It's been a good news, bad news school year for the Siuslaw Vikings cheerleaders.

Recently, it's been great news, thanks to Florence Elks Lodge 1858, which donated $5,000 to the team.

"We were all so excited that all three of us coaches cried, and even some members of our team cried," Siuslaw coach Teri Straley said.

Crying done, she knew exactly where to put the money to good use.

"We are excited to use this money to get cheer mats," Straley said. "Right now, we use old wrestling mats, and they aren't for cheerleading.

"Cheer mats provide extra safety for tumbling and stunting, plus this will give our team more practice on a floor that we can use at competitions."

A big plus is cheer mats are easily portable.

"We can move (the mats) to our main gym or auxiliary gym floor to practice full out routines," Staley said. "If the weather is nice, will be able to take them outside and work."

The mats also will allow the program to hold cheer camps, and the Siuslaw coach hopes to have as many as three this summer.

"Two of these camps will be focusing on our stunting," Straley said. "We went to a stunting camp in Bandon last summer and our team showed great improvement."

The third camp will be for learning cheers and game-day routines for competitions.

The Elks donation has put the team in a good place. But the student-athletes also have held cans and bottles drives to help pay for new signs and uniforms.

The school district pitched in $2,000 for uniforms. Other top sponsors include NConnect, Zolezzi Insurance, Coast Real Estate and Florence Motorsports.

Otherwise, the team has contended with many of the same challenges facing all sports and activities at the high school. The cheer season is just longer.

The team will be attempt to qualify for the state championships at meets Sunday at Gladstone and Jan. 29 at Springfield.

"As of right now, these competitions are in person," Straley said. "The state championships will be at Oregon City High School this year, and the OCAA Championships in Salem."

The work is further complicated by having five cheerleaders playing other sports this season, two in wrestling and three in basketball.

"This makes it hard to work on stunts that we need for our routine when we don't have as often as we would like, but we make it work," Straley said. "I will always support my team no matter what.

"The team has been through some ups and downs this year. But this has made our team stronger."

SIUSLAW CHEER ROSTER
Freshmen
Darcy Edman
Ashlyn Hart
Claire Lindell
Sophomores
Ally Contreras
Rosa Velasco-Mendez
Parker Sydow
Juniors
Michaela Butchart
Ava Coggins
Gillian Norton
Seniors
Alexia Clark
Haylee Cole
Dante Galli
Brooke Olson
Destiny Teel
Coach: Teri Straley
Assistants: Desteny Johnson, Lori Straley