For 2020 senior Brinley Lewis, cheerleading for McAlester High School was simply meant to be.

“When I was little, I always looked up to the cheerleaders,” said Lewis. “I even had a Buff birthday party where several varsity cheerleaders came and taught us cheers.”

It was an instant passion. She started competitive cheer when she was in kindergarten and did that for several years before starting her school cheer in the seventh grade. Since then, she has been nominated as an All-American cheerleader twice and is currently a co-captain for McAlester Varsity Cheer, a role she held as a junior as well.

As co-captain, she sees much potential in her team for the school year.

“If we keep growing as a team and using each other’s individual skills, we have the potential to do very well at our competitions,” said the senior. “My biggest goal is that we apply it and show the judges how good we are.”

Lewis knows a thing or two about what it takes to succeed. Her freshman year, McAlester Cheer finished third at state competitions and top-ten at nationals, but her favorite moment as a McAlester cheerleader came during the craziness of the last season.

“Last year at regionals, we had to rework our routine twice because we had girls quarantined who weren’t able to compete. We also couldn’t stay for the awards, so that night we all went to our gym in our pajamas and waited for the results to be posted. Our coaches came in and told us that we got third and we all started freaking out.”

“It was one of the best feelings ever,” said Lewis with a smile.

After high school, Lewis plans to attend the University of Oklahoma and major in health sciences, on course to become a physician’s assistant.  With any aspiration, it often requires a network of support along the way, but Brinley knows that all too well from her time as a cheerleader.

“It’s always easier to do the hard things when you have a group of people cheering you on.”