They are the smiling faces who welcome fans to Spartan Stadium. Flying high in the air and keeping the energy up with their strong voices, MSU cheerleaders are a familiar presence at athletic events.

Led by head coach Alisha Marquette, who also is spirit coordinator for the MSU Dance Team, the team of 45 men and women are divided into two squads, each led by captains. The White squad consists of students with less experience, including freshmen. The more experienced members make up the Green squad.

Two-day tryouts are usually held in March.

“We hire in people to come in and judge the tryouts. It’s all based on talent and the scores that they get,” Marquette said.

Alicia Faustyn, a supply chain management senior, first tried out for the team in 2004. A cheerleader since seventh grade, she did not make the team at first but returned the next year.

“I couldn’t see myself without cheerleading — just because it’s what I’ve done for about seven years now,” Faustyn said. “I thought it was a great honor to be cheering at a collegiate level, and I wanted to continue.”

Practices are held three times a week for two and a half hours, but the members on the nationals squad practice up to five times a week.

What sets a collegiate team apart from a high school team is the coed aspect.

The addition of males brings new stunts and adjustments. For example, Faustyn said basket tosses require an adjustment to the height the cheerleader is thrown in the air.

Among their appearances are performances at men’s and women’s basketball, football and volleyball matches.

“You are there to pump the crowd up, get them excited about the game. You have to have high energy — it takes a strong person to stand there and still be happy,” Marquette said.

The team also hosts other events, such as an annual cheerleading camp, which serves as one of their larger fundraisers of the year.

Fundraising brings exposure to the team and allows them to interact with the community. It is used to cover the costs of competition.

They also sell posters and tattoos and make appearances.

“Their strengths are obviously the stunting, pyramids, then the traditions,” Marquette said. “We have a really good fan base — that impresses me, and it really helps to have them there.”

Since her first time cheering with MSU at a volleyball game, Faustyn has taken memories and lessons from her experiences.

“It plays an important role in the condition of the school because we want to try and represent the student body in the best way we can,” she said. “When things aren’t going so well, we are still excited to be there.”

MSU Dance Team

At 10 p.m. on a Monday evening, the lights at IM Sports-East are shutting off. As voices over the intercom announce the building is closing, the MSU Dance Team calls it a night. Once a club, the team has become an established member of university athletics.

Jessica Cummins and Rachel Brunette, both seniors, are now in their final year on the team, each having danced with MSU for the past three years. Both have been dancing most of their lives, including ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop and lyrical styles.

“It’s my way of expressing myself,” Brunette said. “It’s my outlet for stress.”

Both Cummins, a hospitality business major, and Brunette, who is studying nursing, fulfilled their dreams by joining the team at MSU, now competing at the Division 1-A level.

“You compete with the best of the big schools,” Cummins said. “It’s a lot of work — it’s over in two minutes and you just want to do it again.”

Auditioning in April, the team of 18, which includes 11 new girls this year, practices throughout the year, sacrificing its breaks to stay in top form.

“You have to take all the different dance backgrounds and conform them to MSU Dance. By the end of the year, you all dance exactly the same,” Cummins said.

The girls don’t have a coach, so they choreograph their own routines to perform at tailgates, on the sidelines at the football and basketball games and during time-outs at the basketball games.

For competition, they bring in a choreographer.

All expenses for nationals are covered by fundraising, such as selling posters and giving outside performances at nonuniversity events like the Alumni Association’s annual golf outing.

Freshmen weren’t originally allowed to try out, to give them time to adjust to college life, but the team saw the benefits of having girls come straight from the studio.

The team, Cummins and Brunette said, helps freshmen to adjust, giving them 17 new friends with whom to share their concerns and experiences.

Lindsey Little, a child development freshman, was among the second group of freshmen allowed to try out.

A dancer since she was 4 years old, Little was on her high school dance team.

“Without dancing in college, I wouldn’t know what to do,” she said. “I wanted to keep going, and it was so nice that we got to here.”

Little remembers her first MSU football home game, seeing the crowd join together for the chants from the film “300.”

“It was so cool seeing that many people and being on the field to witness that,” Little said.

The girls attend a camp in summer, where they compete for a place in nationals, through the Universal Dance Association. After taking third place this year, the team is now working to perfect two routines for the January competition in Orlando.

Little also has changed as a person because of her involvement with dance and the team.

“Discipline definitely — to be organized, to be confident, because you can never go on stage doubting yourself,” she said.

Their time on the team will have a long-term effect on both Cummins and Brunette.

“You get to be a part of the university,” Cummins said.

The constant support from MSU students, faculty and alumni also has helped the girls continue to share their talent — something they will never forget.

“We’re right there,” Brunette said. “I will probably never get the opportunity to dance in front of 70,000 people again. I’ve made some of the best friends I will ever have.”

MSU Pompon

For members of pompon, it has typically been a sport left behind after high school. But this Midwestern sport is making its mark on the university circuit, led by the MSU Pompon club, who are eager to share their passion with their peers and their community.

Elise Simpson, a human biology junior and vice president of the club, describes a typical pompon routine as a series of highly visual formations with a kick line in the middle.

“You only have two minutes to show them what you’ve been preparing for three months,” Simpson said. “It is as much individual as it is a team.”

The key to a strong performer is to be in shape, as well as to have a sense of musicality, allowing them to keep time with the music. A professional, positive attitude also is important.

Tryouts are held for two weeks in April, during which the girls learn two routines and are interviewed by the seniors on the team.

The 17 girls bring their unique skills to their routines, which they choreograph themselves. To manage the club, six girls are elected to an executive board, which includes two captains, a secretary, a treasurer, a fund chair and a spirit chair. Two directors also attend practices.

Linda Karbo, a 2005 alumni, serves as program director for the club, overseeing their rehearsals and helping them prepare for performances and competitions. A member of pompon in high school and an employee of Mid American Pompon, she came on as a coach shortly after the club’s creation. The club was founded during the fall 2005 semester by students, and was the first college-level pompom team in the country.

What Karbo said distinguishes a pompon routine are its sharp movements and transitions, all done with a “confident posture” and a smile.

“It’s technically different (from cheerleading and dancing) — it is definitely a fusion between cheerleading, dance and a little bit of gymnastics,” she said. “When you are performing as a team on the floor, you should look like one person.”

The kick line is the defining element of the performance, when the girls stand in a line, kicking in unison. The club won the 2007 Collegiate High Kick Championship on Nov. 4.

They compete twice a year, practicing three times a week from April to March. Other performances range from Greek Week to the Garden City, Mich., Santaland Parade, for which they are currently rehearsing.

“We have really late practices, they are late nights, and everyone needs to be on top of their schoolwork,” Simpson said. “We are here until it looks good.”

Sarah Pylar, an elementary education sophomore, joined the team in April. A lifelong dancer and a member of pompom in high school, the summer practices and long nights were familiar.

“I want it to be the best it can possibly be,” she said. “That’s why we can look the way we do.”

Without university funding, the club members must seek out their own opportunities to perform, approaching other organizations and doing fundraising to cover the costs of uniforms, travel expenses, etc.

Karbo said the IM Department is both helpful and supportive, but exposure is key.

“If we don’t have anywhere to perform, we really have no purpose,” she said. “We’re trying to showcase why we’re different; we definitely don’t want to step on any toes. We’re not afraid to work for it — we want to put our time in.

“We’re a good show.”