The dull hum of florescent lights and whir of metal fans filled the gymnastics room in Jenison Field House last week where the 32 members of MSU's cheerleading team stretched their arms and legs in preparation for one of their weekly practices.

Sporting loose-fitting gym clothes, tennis shoes and white sports tape on their wrists for extra grip, the men on the team joked with one another and rehearsed stunts with the women, lifting them onto their shoulders and tossing them high into the air.

On one corner of the giant blue, springy gymnastics mat where the cheerleaders were assembled, Blair Dunckel practiced forming a pyramid with a handful of his teammates. The park, recreation and tourism resources sophomore strained with the other men at the bottom of the formation, holding the calves and ankles of two women who hoisted a third cheerleader up onto their knees. The formation wobbled slightly as the students struggled to find their balance but finished with the men catching their teammates for a safe landing.

"We're always definitely careful at practice trying to prevent any big-time injuries," said Dunckel, who is a first-year cheerleader on the team. "There's a lot of little stuff - elbows to the nose, kicks to the face. The way we look at it, if we get punched in the face and it saves somebody from breaking their neck, it's just taking one for the team."

Dunckel is one of 15 men on the cheerleading team whose job is to lift, throw and catch women three times a week at practice and at every MSU football and basketball game. They form the base of complicated human pyramids and are the safety net to catch their female teammates after tossing them as high as 30 feet in the air.

According to some of the men on the team, there are a few negative stereotypes about male cheerleading - men who cheerlead are feminine or "sissy." But they say they are rarely confronted with these stereotypes from fans, and that such beliefs haven't persuaded them to stray from their spot on the sidelines.

"When I was in high school, people were like, 'Oh, cheerleading is for girls,'" said Martin Wright, a marketing junior and co-captain of the MSU cheerleading team. "But up here at State, I haven't had any problems. Most people that I've run into think it's really cool.

"They're like, 'Oh, you get to hang out with all those cute girls.'"

One common misconception about cheerleading is that it has always been dominated by females.

Cheerleading as a sport began more than 100 years ago at the University of Minnesota after the football team suffered a series of losses in the late 1800s. The university's newspaper published an editorial calling for a plan to initiate more enthusiasm for the school's athletics and not long after, a male student offered to lead organized cheers at football games.

Colleges and universities across the country soon followed suit, assembling their own cheerleading teams that remained mostly comprised of men until nearly halfway through the 20th century.

"Prior to WW II, a majority of colleges had all male cheerleaders," said Peter Schlift, MSU cheerleading's assistant coach. "When the war rolled around, girls took over and it stayed that way until the late 70s."

It was at this time that cheerleading became more competitive and athletic. Men were a needed asset on the teams to help the progression of complicated stunts and tumbling.

"Men are just as essential as the ladies are," said MSU cheerleading's head coach Zoe Yockey. "The guys obviously bring their strength to be able to do more difficult pyramids and stunts. Also, their loud voices make us easier to hear and easier to lead the crowd at games."

Most of the men on MSU's team did not have prior cheerleading experience before coming to college. Yockey said many of them are former high school football players, wrestlers or track runners who decided for one reason or another to try out for the cheerleading team.

"Usually it's gaining the interest that is the hardest part," she said. "Once guys try cheerleading and try the stunts, usually they're hooked."

Yockey said one of the attractions of cheerleading for men is that it provides them with a co-ed athletic experience while allowing them to take part in traditional male sports from a different angle.

"I wouldn't say they're necessarily giving up the football-playing mentality," she said. "It's the desire to stay close to it. They can be the extra member of the team being on the field - being a cheerleader as opposed to being in the stands as a general student.

"Floor seats are always great."

Team members also cited other perks to being a male cheerleader.

"I like to stay active - it keeps me in shape and it gives me a good group of friends to be with," Dunckel said. "The games are a lot of fun to cheer at, too, to be down and on the field and up close."

Dunckel was close to the action Saturday, positioned with his teammates on the grassy sidelines in Spartan Stadium. He squinted against the afternoon sunshine and raised a megaphone to his lips, shouting cheers toward the student section in an effort to get the fans pumped up for the second half of the MSU football team's game against Illinois.

Dunckel said his first time cheering at a football game - less than a month ago - took some adjustment at first.

"It felt really funny," he said. "It made me miss playing football but then it was like, I've got all this other excitement built up for trying something new and something different."

Some of the men on the team said cheering in front of about 70,000 fans in Spartan Stadium for football games can be daunting but thrilling at the same time.

"It's such a rush," Wright said. "There's so many people in the stadium and everyone's really into it."

Many of the cheerleaders said they rarely hear taunts or jeers from the crowd toward the men on the team.

"At games, everyone wants to cheer along with the cheerleaders," said Antonette Bitonti, an education senior and co-captain of the team. "These guys are athletes and whenever anybody says anything, I'm like, 'You come over here and throw me in the air and do what these guys do.

"'Then we can talk.'"

Emily Bingham is The State News projects reporter. Reach her at binghame@msu.edu