South Haven News

By Sydnie Rae

The South Haven Highschool Cardinal cheer is a team of seven, at the moment. The girls love what they do. The Cardinal Cheerleaders do stunts, dances, and of course, cheers. The girls cheer for the boys and girls basketball team. The team is coached by Mellissa Jolly Breithup.

Annabelle Burden

Annabelle Burden is the Cardinal Cheer 2024 captain. She is a junior at South Haven High School and is 16 years old. She has been doing cheer for six years in a row, but did a lot of cheer when she was younger. She does cross country, Outlaw Cheer, Cardinal Cheer, basketball, and powerlifting. Her favorite class is personal finance and she is in a lot of clubs such as FCCLA, FFA, FCA, and NHS. Burden is a flyer for the team and said her favorite part about cheer was. “Hanging out with my cheer friends and learning new stunts to show the crowd, also being able to be a good leader to young and new cheerleaders.”

Arallai Wartick

Arallai Wartick is 16 years old and is a junior at South Haven. She does volleyball, basketball, Cardinal Cheer, and powerlifting. Her favorite hour is Mrs. Wiley’s Cardinal Time. In her free time, she likes to work out, hangout with her friends, read, and paint. Wartick is a part of a lot of clubs which are FFA, FCCLA, NHS, FCA, Math relays, and Jets! She did cheer her eighth grade year, her freshman year, and this half of her junior year. She is a base for the team in stunts. These are her thoughts on her favorite part about it, Wartick said, “My favorite part about cheer is stunting because it’s fun to learn new stunts.”

Danica Browning

Danica Browning is a 16 years old and a Junior at South Haven High School. She does Outlaw Cheer, Cardinal Cheer, and softball. Danica’s favorite class is anatomy! She also likes to read and watch TikTok. She is a part of the clubs JETS and Math relays. Browning has been doing cheer for five years. She is a back spot and base for the team. Her favorite part of cheer is being with the girls and team bonding.

Sydnie Rae

Sydnie Rae is a 15 year old Sophomore at South Haven High School. She does volleyball, Outlaw Cheer, Cardinal Cheer, and track. Rae’s favorite part about school is going home. In her free time, she likes to watch TikTok, go on drives, and hang out with friends. She is a part of FCCLA. She is a flyer for the team. She has been doing cheer since her freshman year and she says this about cheer, “My favorite part of cheer is learning new stunts, hanging out with the girls, and finding new ways to engage the crowd. I like seeing all of the little girls and thinking they are looking up to us.

Avery Strickland

Avery Strickland is a sophomore from South Haven High School. She is 15 years old and is a part of the Cardinal Cheer team. She has been doing cheer since the eighth grade, so in total three years. Strickland is also a part of the track, cross country teams and cheer team for the South Sumner Outlaws. Strickland’s favorite hobbies are baking and reading in her free time. Strickland is a part of a lot of clubs including FFA, math relays, JETS, and FCCLA. Strickland’s position is “utility” and she is a secondary base. Her favorite part of cheer is doing stunts and seeing all of the little girls in stands watching the cheer team.

Piper Dodds

Piper Dodds is a sophomore from South Haven High School. She is 15 years old and is on the South Haven and South Sumner Cheer Teams. Dodds’s favorite class in school is weights. Her favorite hobbies are baking, reading, and listening to music on her off time. Dodds participates in clubs like FCCLA, and STUCCO. She has been doing cheer for three years and her position is base and favorite part about cheer is the drives to games or camps because, “all of the silly things we do on the way there.”

Carley Russell

Carley Russel is a freshman from South Haven High School. She is 14 years old and is a part of the South Haven and South Sumner cheer teams. Russell’s favorite classes in school are math and journalism. Russell does basketball, volleyball, and Cardinal and Outlaw Cheer. Russell is a part of a bunch of clubs including FCA, FFA, STUCCO, Math Relays. She has been doing cheer since sixth grade, so a total of four years. She also did all of the little girl cheer camps she possibly could. Her position on the cheer team is back spot, and sometimes base. She said this about cheer, “My favorite part about cheer is seeing all of the little girls in the stands trying to keep up with the cheers because I used to be one of those little girls.”