Flippin’ into Action

You’re standing on your teammate’s hands with your arms forming a high V, trusting that your balance won’t fail you. You prepare for flight, and the hands that once held your feet are pushing you into the air. You’re twisting quickly, and the next moment you’re in a net of arms.

Chloe Stence ’20 lived in this exhilarating moment numerous times from the five years of cheer. She has been a part of three different gyms, but is currently a team member of Iowa Elite Cheer. Stence found her passion after trying many sports.

“I’ve done a lot of sports and cheer has always been the best for me,” she said. “I feel like it was basically the first sport that I was good at because I’ve tried swimming, gymnastics, soccer and track, but I actually felt the need to try and get better at cheer. I actually tried. I found a connection with it.”

What grabbed Stence’s attention most about cheer was the uniqueness. Cheer is gymnastics and dance, but with only two minutes and thirty seconds to prove the team’s skills. However, unlike dance and gymnastics, cheer consists of standing on people, only to be thrown in the air.

Stence’s best friend, Jenna Starr ’20, cheers with her and witnesses Stence’s strengths at every practice. “Cheering with Chloe is like a ray of sunshine because she always comes to practice ready to work,” Starr said, “she never complains and she always has a positive attitude. I remember after every routine last season we would hug each other knowing we did amazing and it really started our connection.”

Stence and Starr’s friendship blossomed in eighth grade and the two have been inseparable ever since. Starr describes their relationship like no other: “a lot of friends get annoyed of each other and fight, but Chloe and I understand each other and we are there for each other. I could spend like a whole year with her in a room and not get annoyed.” Stence agreed that she understands Starr the most out of all of her friends, and that she’s always there for her, even after a difficult injury in a Des Moines competition.

Cheer isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. According to the United States Sports Academy, cheerleading ranks second in catastrophic injuries with football as the only sport ranked higher. Stence is no stranger to that ranking.

During a cheerleading competition in Des Moines, she dislocated her shoulder. “It was a big setback,” Stence said, “Injuries suck because they set you back so far and you have to wait to recover in physical therapy. I had to sit out for a month at least and getting back into the swing of things and doing full outs–that was hard. And it hurt to tumble at first, but it got better.”

Another one of Stence’s teammates and close friend, Brittan Gregoire ’18, commented on how Stence fought through the pain during the routine, “She didn’t let her shoulder being dislocated affect her. I remember it got dislocated during a competition and that didn’t stop her. She still did the rest of the routine with her shoulder out of place.”

After the competition, Stence went to the doctor and she had to go through two months of physical therapy. To this day, she continues to do exercises to recover her shoulder.

Despite her injury, Stence and the rest of her teammates in Iowa Elite Cheer made it to internationals in Orlando, Florida last year and won. Stence’s accomplishment was unforgettable, “I didn’t even know how to feel, honestly. Like when they called us for first place I didn’t even scream or anything. I was just like ‘Oh my God’ and I just started crying a lot.”

Stence looks forward to accomplishing more of her individual and team goals. Later in December, Stence and her team will go to nationals and onto internationals in the spring of 2018.