Imagine being in Florida, participating in the sport you love and making Ball State history.
That is exactly what senior cheerleaders Josh Blake and Rhea Waldo did in Orlando at the 2003 National Partner Stunt Championships.
After completing a videotape and sending it to judges, Blake and Waldo received one of the 20 invitations. Fifty tapes were sent in. They placed tenth in the video submission and set a new precedent for Ball State cheerleaders because not a single Ball State cheerleader had made the championships before.
Blake, from Pendleton, and Waldo, who is from Yorktown, have been paired together since their freshmen year. They only had about three hours to practice on their own before the competition in Orlando. With a basketball game each week, they had to allow for their first obligation -- to practice with the team for 15 hours a week.
At the competition, Blake and Waldo placed eighth in the Co-ed Partner Stunt Division. Waldo said the most memorable part was "the feeling on the stage, waiting for the music to start...the lights blaring in your eyes."
Waldo has participated in cheerleading since sixth grade, and Blake has been involved since his freshman year at Ball State. Their favorite parts of cheerleading are the games and the stunts they participate in.
"My friends are really supportive and cool about it," Blake said of being involved in cheerleading.
This was the last year for Blake and Waldo cheerleading at Ball State, but they both have one more year of school left. Waldo is a special education major and hopes to teach around the Muncie area after graduating. Blake is a criminal justice major.
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