Senior, Paige Martinez, has been a member of the Shadow Ridge Cheer program since freshman year and is excited to further continue her cheer career as she recently committed to Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio to be a part of their stunt team. On Friday, February 23rd, 2024 Martinez was joined by teammates, friends, and family to officially sign to be a part of the Ursuline Stunt Team.
Stunt is a unique sport that takes elements from cheerleading but switches the focus and makes it less of a performance, and more technicality based.
“Stunt is a cheer based sport but instead of showmanship and loud music and glitter, it’s reliant on technique and skills,” Martinez says.
While Martinez eventually decided that the commitment to Ursuline was the best decision for her, it was not an easy decision to make.
“My college choice process was very stressful, I just kept going back and forth between a few schools but couldn’t decide,” Martinez adds.
While Martinez may not be committing to be on a cheerleading squad, her years as a part of the Shadow Ridge cheerleading program will benefit her in preparation for her new chapter of stunt.
“At Shadow we focus a ton on tumbling and stunting as you try and maintain varsity skills so a lot of the skills I’ll be expected to do in stunt I already have done or tried,” says Martinez.
Martinez has had an impressive run with Mustang cheer recently proving very successful in part of the recent wins at USA Spirit Regional competing as a member of the varsity show cheer team, crowd leader, and fight song squads but is excited to expand her horizons and join stunt.
“I’m most excited to be in a new environment trying something new. I love change, so the slight change from cheer to stunt is super exciting for me,” Martinez shares
After her many years of experience and passion for cheering, she has a wealth of knowledge to pass on for future generations of cheerleaders to come.
Martinez says, “I would say don’t be afraid to try new skills, I know it’s tough but the hardest part of any skill, new or old, is throwing it so don’t overthink it too much because the most important part is just trying.
Congratulations goes out to Paige Martinez!
