Spirit of a Champ

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By Brittany Brownrigg, May 7, 2010

For about the last month Johnston has been competing to become part of the Colts cheerleading squad. Over 350 women started out in the tryout process and only 32 make it in the end.

 

The past few weeks have been filled with learning dances and then performing them in order to try and make the cut. Johnston said for the past four or five weeks she has had to learn a dance on Tuesday and then perform it on Thursday. Cuts are made each week based on individual’s performances.

 

Johnston said she wants to be a Colts cheerleader for the experiences and the people she will meet. She also said the traveling that the team does appeals to her. In past seasons the Colts cheerleaders have traveled to Japan and Hawaii.

 

Johnston made it all the way through the weekly cuts and competed on Wednesday night to make the final cut. The final portion of the tryout process was at Plainfield High School. It was composed of a mixture of a dancing, formal runway and bathing suit competitions.

 

Wednesday night started out with 65 cheerleaders and ended with only 32 making the cut. Johnston was one of those 32.

 

The success of earning a position on the Colts cheerleading team is not the only success Johnston has experienced lately. Last weekend Johnston helped the women’s track and field team claim Franklin College’s first ever HCAC championship.

 

“Knowing that we had never won something like that … all of us wanted it so bad,” Johnston said.

 

Throughout the two-day competition, Johnston competed in seven events including hurdles, relays, jumps and the javelin. The team knew going into their final event, the 4 x 4 relay, that they had won the conference title. Because they knew they had won the title before competing in the last event, Johnston said the Grizzlies were able to relax and enjoy their last race.

 

Paul Sargent, head coach of the Franklin track and field team, said that last weekend’s event displayed Franklin’s talent as a team.

 

“It was one of those perfect scenarios,” Sargent said. “It was a team effort.”

 

Sargent said that Johnston is unlike any athlete he has worked with because she is so naturally gifted in her sport.

 

“Shelby is probably the most unique athlete I’ve ever met,” Sargent said. “She had a very solid [conference] meet.”

 

Johnston received the honor of making the honorable mention all conference list and placed third in the high jump.

 

“She did a great job,” Sargent said.

 

Johnston’s success did not come without preparation. She started cheering as well as competing in track and field in seventh grade at South Putnam High School.

 

Gymnastics and dance were a part of Johnston’s life at an early age, which also helped her when she picked up cheerleading. Johnston started gymnastics when she was just four and then started dancing when she was 10 years old. She continued to do gymnastics for six years and dance for seven years.

 

When she entered the seventh grade Johnston picked up cheerleading and continued through eighth grade. After eighth grade Johnston did not cheer again until her senior year of high school when one of the cheerleaders on the team was injured and the team asked Johnston to join.

 

Track and field was not the only sport Johnston competed in throughout high school. Volleyball, basketball and diving were all a part of her life throughout high school.

 

It was this involvement in athletics that brought Johnston to Franklin. She only looked at one college throughout her search and that was Franklin.

 

“I thought there would be more opportunity at a division III school for sports,” Johnston said.

 

In her freshman year at Franklin, Johnston participated in volleyball, track and field

and the dance team. This year, Johnston decided not to compete in volleyball or be on the dance team but rather just focus on track and field and the Colts cheerleading competition.

 

Sargent said that all of Johnston’s skills from other sports including diving, volleyball and dance have helped her achieve success in track and field.

 

“Her skills kind of all fall together,” he said. “She’s a good athlete.”

 

Johnston credits her success to her family’s love and support.

 

“My family is my life,” Johnston said. “That is the most important thing. I probably wouldn’t be where I am if I didn’t have them pushing me. My mom is my biggest fan.”

 

Johnston comes from a large family with 50 cousins on just one side of her family. She not only credits her family with where she is today but also says that where she grew up has helped her as well. Johnston was born in Indianapolis but was raised on a farm in Putnam County.

 

This experience taught Johnston to look at life in a unique way and to have knowledge that cannot be gained in the classroom.

 

“I think I look at situations differently,” Johnston said. “Most people expect the best thing to happen and I always expect the worst just so I am prepared.”

 

Johnston hopes to take the experiences of her past and combine them with the knowledge she is gaining at Franklin College. She is majoring in sociology and criminal justice and hopes to someday become a warden at a prison. Johnston said she feels that this job will allow her to better society and help keep criminals off of the streets.

 

Until then, Johnston will strive for continued success as a student athlete and Colts cheerleader.