Former Belvidere North cheerleaders now leading the cheers for NIU’s football team

DEKALB, IL (WTVO/WQRF) — High School football players, basketball players and other athletes aren’t the only ones who dream of participating at the college level. Many cheerleaders also share that dream. Two from here in the Stateline can now be found at the sidelines at NIU football games.

Riley Powers is a senior at NIU and Angel Lewis is a sophomore.

“I’ve dreamed of being a college cheerleader ever since I was little. said Powers. “I’ve been cheering since Kindergarten, and I always hoped to end up here.”

“I’ve been cheering for the past 15 years, and ever since I was little, I’ve always just wanted to continue it,” echoed Lewis.

Both Powers and Lewis are graduates of Belvidere North High School where they were part of North’s competitive cheerleading squads that routinely compete at State.

“Belvidere North prepared me immensely for this,” said Powers. “They are such a competitive program, and it’s so helpful to come from somewhere like that.”

“I was on varsity at Belvidere North for three years my sophomore through senior year,” said Lewis. It’s a very fun environment. It definitely prepared me for Division 1 cheerleading.”

“Trying out to be a cheerleader here, coming in my freshman year, I was very nervous,” added Lewis. “It’s a very different, bigger community, but coming in everybody was super welcoming.”

But Powers adds there has been a lot of work involved in being a cheerleader at a Division I university. “It was a lot of hard work that I put in to become a cheerleader here. We condition a lot. We have to put in a lot of work, stay in shape and be able to do all the things that we do.”

“As of right now, we’re practicing two days a week,” said Lewis. “We come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When we’re practicing, we jump, we tumble, we stunt, but most of all we’re just trying to build that family connection as a team right now.”

Powers and Lewis both had the thrill of being on the field at the Notre Dame game a couple weeks ago when the Huskies upset the Fighting Irish.

“It was probably the biggest game I’ve ever cheered. The most exhilarating,” said Lewis.

“The energy of Notre Dame was insane,” said Powers. “It was so exciting to be able to be there and support our team.”

Powers has this advice for young cheerleaders who hope to cheer in college one day.

“The advice I have for little girls if you want to cheer in college is to stay dedicated and stay coachable.”

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