For MSU’s dance/cheer teams, when the game ends, the work is just beginning

Mackenzie Michalak, a junior from Macomb, Michigan who studies supply chain management at Michigan State University knew that she wanted to be a Spartan ever since she was in fifth grade.

Katelyn Gerard, a senior from Clarkston, Michigan, studies human biology at MSU and says she has bled green since she was a little girl.

Both Michalak and Gerard are captains on the Michigan State dance team and are set to help lead their Spartan teammates on to the performance stage in Orlando, Florida next week at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports.

Jericho Herblet, a fifth-year senior studying mechanical engineering at MSU is from Ovid, Michigan and played football, basketball, and baseball all four years in high school before taking up cheer as a freshman at Michigan State. Herblet will help lead the rest of the Michigan State cheer team on to the performance stage in Orlando as well.

In fact, at one point during the competition next week, Michalak, Gerard, and Herblet will all be on the stage together with 54 of their teammates as both of their teams work together to show the judges what gameday looks like at Michigan State University in the fall.

“We are proud to support our cheer and dance teams as they represent Michigan State at the College Nationals,” MSU Athletic Director Alan Haller told Spartans Illustrated. “The spirit squads play an important role in Spartan Athletics throughout the year in our fan engagement, helping to create a great environment across many of our venues, while also training for their national competition. They turned in a phenomenal performance last year, and I know they’ll give it their very best effort once again.”

In case you weren't aware, the cheer and dance teams’ role at Michigan State University doesn’t end when the final whistle blows at the sporting event they are cheering at – the men and women on these teams take turns volunteering to represent MSU at various events throughout the community, whether that be showing up at the grand opening of Raising Canes in East Lansing or cheering on a basketball team at a special education event.

Elyse Packard, the Director of Spirit Groups and Events at Michigan State University, also coaches the MSU Cheerleading/Dance team and coordinates the scheduling of cheer/dance events in the community and at MSU sports events.

Packard makes it clear that the top priority for the spirit squads is to bring the energy at the various Spartan sporting events they perform at – football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, and any other sport they can make it to, including soccer, gymnastics, and track.

But in their spare time, they are out in the community, spreading green and white cheer to all who will hear.

“That’s what we do in our extracurricular time,” said Michalak. “We give back to our community and show our faces and show Michigan State support in all areas.”

“I don’t think people realize how much we do,” said Gerard. “They see us obviously at the games down on the field on the basketball court, but there is just so much more that we do – whether it is community outreach or our nationals process which is a lot more than people realize. The amount of hours and the amount of effort we put into everything and how much we actually do for Michigan State University is something that a lot of people don’t really realize.”

It wasn’t always this way. In fact, MSU’s dance team used to be called MSU Motion before they joined the cheer team under MSU Athletics around 15 years ago. Both teams are now fully-supported athletic teams at MSU; they earn varsity letters just like any other student-athlete at MSU.

In Orlando, at their national competition, the Spartans will compete against other FBS schools in different categories for dance and cheer. MSU’s dance team competes in jazz and pom division 1A while cheer competes in the division that allows for a large number of co-ed participants. Cheer and dance will also compete together once for the gameday competition.

”It’s very different than what you would see on the sideline at our game,” said Packard. “Our dancers grow up being technically trained in multiple different styles and this is their time to shine in those styles. So jazz and pom are different than what you would typically see. Our cheer team competes on mats which has different rules than what you would see at a basketball game. It’s a two-to-two-and-half-minute routine that is jam-packed full of tumbling and flips and cheering as well as skills, baskets, pyramids, and stunts.”

All of the time spent practicing these routines goes beyond the typical games and practices that the cheer and dance teams have. Over Christmas break, they had two practices per day with just a short stint off for Christmas and New Year’s Day.

At last year’s competition, the cheer team had two routines in the top-10 while the dance team placed 12th overall in jazz and fifth overall in pom.

“There are some big expectations [for this year],” said Packard. “We lost nearly half of our team because they were seniors. So we do have a large portion of first year [team members] stepping up to make that happen. Dance has two phenomenal routines to hopefully get into the finals and get our spots and placements even higher to represent Michigan State.”

If you aren’t able to make it to Orlando next week, you’ll have another opportunity to watch the Spartan spirit squads as they perform in a showcase on Sunday, Jan. 8 at 4:30 p.m. at IM West’s Lower Gym. The showcase is open to the public and there is no charge to attend.

You’ll be able to see up close and personal the level of skill it takes to make the complex cheers look easy to the untrained eye.

“We really are our own sport,” said Herblet. “I think many people dismiss us being on the sidelines as it being pretty easy; but that takes all week of practice getting pyramids ready, perfecting those skills so they are ready. We want all the fans to think it looks easy.”

It’s taken a lot of hard work and it’s almost time for the teams to shine on the performance stage.

The cheer and dance teams practice five days per week during game day weeks, and lift twice per week as well. It’s a lot of hours dedicated to their craft.

“We’re not just on the sideline throwing our poms in the air,” said Gerard. “We really are athletes and we are driven, motivated, super hardworking. I love being on the stage. Performing is my passion. It’s what I grew up doing. Really focusing on the routines and honing in. Going through the hardships and the successes with my team, as one.”

“Our team’s big goal is to make the whole weekend count,” said Michalak. “We’ve put in a lot of hours and a lot of time and a lot of stress on our bodies so we hope that we connect as one on the floor as a team.”

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