[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2906]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GREENBACK HIGH SCHOOL CHEERLEADERS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 6, 2001

  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year the National Cheerleading 
Championship was held here in the Nation's Capital. I am pleased that 
the National Championship Award in the small school varsity division 
went to the Greenback High School Cheerleaders, from Greenback, 
Tennessee.
  Team members, Traci Russell, Amanda McKeehan, Rebekah Raines, Kristi 
Evans, Sylvia Martin, Staci Kizer, Lynette Krohnfeldt, Melissa Spring, 
Chelsey Edmondson and Kallee Brooks are to be congratulated on winning 
the award for their outstanding performance.
  Mr. Speaker, I know that I join all Americans in wishing these young 
ladies best wishes on a job well done.
  I have included a copy of a story written in the Maryville Daily 
Times describing their winning the National Title that I would like to 
call to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record.

        Cheerleaders on Cloud Nine After Winning National Title

                           (By Stefan Cooper)

       They sat cross legged on the floor, cool, calm and 
     collected as they waited for the word.
       Finally, the public address announcer in the ballroom of 
     the Washington Hilton stepped to the microphone.
       ``And the national champion in the small school varsity 
     division is . . . Greenback High School, Greenback, 
     Tennessee.''
       ``They just went straight up in the air,'' Pam Tipton, one 
     of two sponsors for the Greenback High School cheerleaders, 
     said.
       Since claiming the All-American Cheer and Dance national 
     championship Saturday in the nation's capitol, Traci Russell, 
     Amanda McKeehan, Rebekah Raines, Kristi Evans, Sylvia Martin, 
     Staci Kizer, Lynette Krohnfeldt, Melissa Spring, Chelsey 
     Edmondson and Kallee Brooks have yet to come down.
       A large turnout--complete with WKXT Channel 8 in tow--met 
     the team's plane at McGhee Tyson Airport late Saturday.
       WATE Channel 6 showed up at the school Monday morning. Two 
     area newspapers scheduled back-to-back interviews with the 
     new champs Tuesday after school.
       ``The girls haven't had time to shave their legs, and I 
     haven't had time to get my laundry done,'' Tipton said. ``The 
     reaction from the community, the TV stations coming, it's 
     been mind-blowing.''
       Not to worry.
       The team has come up with a catch phrase to deal with their 
     newfound celebrity, Raines said: ``Act casual.''
       The national title comes on the heels of a win in dance at 
     a Universal Cheerleaders Association camp at the University 
     of Tennessee last summer.
       Prior to both, Tipton said, the team looked out of sync.
       ``The week before we went to camp, I said, `This not going 
     to come together,' '' she said. ``Put them in front of a 
     crowd and it was, `Whoa!' ''
       `` `Where did these girls come from?' ''
       Regardless of the endeavor, it takes a lot of work to make 
     a champion.
       ``A lot of people don't think cheerleaders are athletes.'' 
     said Penny McKee, who co-sponsores the team along with 
     Tipton. ``Well, they are athletes. They trained for this.''
       The team practiced its students for competition 2\1/2\ 
     hours a day when not cheering at Greenback sporting events.
       Maryville College junior Nicole Johnson, an employee at 
     Maryville's Gymnastics Counts, choreographed the squad's 
     dance routine.
       Johnson's friend Adriel McCord supplied the dance mix.
       ``The shake-your-booty part was their favorite,'' Johnson 
     said. They stuck every stunt (in Washington). Their tumbling 
     was good.
       ``They surpassed every expectation.''


                         Fearless once on stage

       It wasn't as easy as it seemed, Martin said. Prior to 
     taking the stage each day of the two-day competition, 
     everyone was a nervous wreck.
       ``Once the music starts,'' she said, ``you just think about 
     the routine.'' There, McKee said, the squad was flawless.
       ``They hit everything,'' she said. ``It was perfect. That's 
     the best I've ever seen them.''
       Much of the reason for the impact the championship has 
     generated is due to the size of Greenback.
       The school has an enrollment of 600 students, kindergarten 
     through 12th grade. Only 220 of those students are freshmen 
     or above.
       At the championships, where the largest squad had 28 
     members, the size of the Greenback contingent was quick to 
     catch the eye.
       ``Everywhere the other squads went, they took three or four 
     elevators,'' McKee said. ``We could all cram into one.''


                        Chemistry spells success

       Key to the squad's success is its chemistry. Tipton said.
       ``Most of them have cheered from grade school up,'' she 
     said. ``They're really good friends, and they just click.''
       And when Russell, McKeehan, Raines & Co. took the stage in 
     front of a panel of six judges for the finals Saturday, it 
     carried them through.
       ``They weren't nervous,'' Tipton said. ``I was scared to 
     death.''
       ``We thought they had a chance to do it, but to actually 
     have it happen is amazing.
       ``It's like something you see on TV, but you never think 
     you'll be a part of it.''
       Topping it all off, once the trophy was claimed, Brooks, 
     Raines and Edmondson were named to the championships' All-
     Star team and will represent AACD at the 2002 NFL Pro Bowl in 
     Honolulu.


                        Tour of the U.S. Capitol

       It wasn't all work and no play during their five-day stay 
     in Washington, Russell said.
       U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. gave the team a tour of the 
     Capitol building. U.S. Sen. Bill Frist arranged a visit to 
     the White House.
       ``We did basket tosses over the gate,'' Martin joked.
       The most memorable part of their visit, though?
       ``The subway,'' Russell said. ``Definitely.''
       Kidding aside, they have a lot of people to thank, all 10 
     members said.
       Without Johnson's choreography, it never would have 
     happened, they said.
       ``We love you, Rudy,'' Russell said.
       McKee, Tipton, classmates, and the town of Greenback, all 
     said, have been tremendous.
       ``We're honored,'' Raines said. ``We just wanted to make 
     Greenback proud.''

     

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