As winter sports begin and fall banquets come to a close, we have put together a series of stories to recap this 2015 fall sport season:

The seniors on Howell’s cheer team performed in front of the home spectators for the last of many games during their high school cheerleading careers. Emotions were running high for all sports on Howell’s Senior Night, including cheer. Years of practice and dedication towards their routines and stunting in high school were coming to an end.

“It was really weird to take the track for the last time because I have spent so many Friday nights on it,”  senior cheer captain Bailey Barnes says. “It felt really surreal, like I would be back again next week.”

Both Barnes and senior Madison Thompson are experienced cheerleaders, with Barnes cheering since Howell Area Junior Football and Cheer and Thompson beginning her career during her freshman year.

“I was actually at pom tryouts and saw tumbling up in the balcony and thought I would check it out and fell in love from that point on,” Thompson says. “I never imagined being on the cheer team, let alone being the captain.”

The Friday night lights and the cheering aren’t the only reasons cheer holds such a special place in both cheerleaders’ hearts. Both credit the sport for their own personal growth and many friendships.

“I have grown a lot with this sport and with most of the girls on my team and being able to celebrate my final game with the people I have grown so close to meant a lot to me,” Thompson says.

“Cheer is special to me because it has made me the person I am today and all of the friends I made through it have become some of my closest friends,” Barnes says. “I am not sure what I would be without cheer.”

Though much of what they feel about cheer right now is similar, Barnes and Thompson differ on what they want their future in the sport to consist of.

“I do not plan on cheering after high school,” Thompson says. “I think at this point I would rather focus on my major in college.”

Whereas Thompson does not plan on continuing her cheer career, Barnes has other plans.

“I plan on continuing to cheer in college, whether competitively or just on game day,”Barnes says.

Whatever they choose to do, both are grateful and happy that they chose cheerleading.

“I love it,”  Barnes says. “I will really miss cheering at Howell.”