LONE SENIOR CHEER CAT DEDICATED TO SPORT

If the ceremony were strictly for cheerleaders, Jaydence “JJ” Keatts would have the stage to herself Friday night.

Of course that is not the case as all fall sports and band members who are seniors will be recognized along with their parents and or guardians before the game against Lavaca.

Keatts, however, will be the only one in a cheer uniform.

“I started my sophomore year. I wanted to join because some of my friends were hounding me about it,” said Keatts. “So I tried out with two other sophomores and my junior year they weeded out and now I’m a senior and I’m the only one.”

So why go ahead alone?

“I really fell in love with the sport. I really did. I love the team. I love the environment,” said Keatts.

Her role on the squad is both as a secondary and a main base.

“They both have different parts, especially when we do more difficult stunts. They have different grips,” she explains the difference in assignments.

“JJ is a hard worker and is always eager to offer help,” said cheer coach Rachael May. “She loves to lead and has been a great help to me and the newcomers.”

Her efforts as a cheerleader have also drawn collegiate interest. She has already taken a couple of visits, declined another, and has one more planned.

“I visited Hendrix already. It was ok. I visited OBU (Ouachita Baptist University). I loved it. The cheer coach is amazing and their PTA program and kinesiology program is incredible,” she said. “I got accepted into Henderson and my visit is coming up in a week.”

She opted to not take a visit to Searcy and Harding visit after going to Arkadelphia and OBU but cannot name a frontrunner for where she will attend as yet, because the Henderson visit is pending.

How are the parents – Jennifer and Michael Keatts – taking a pending end of high school for their youngest child?

“My dad is more worked up about it than my mom is, but they plan on coming to watch me cheer during college,” she said.

Before that she is completely dedicated to the Cheer Cats through after school practices on Monday and Wednesday, adding tumbling on Monday, before closing the week with a flurry starting with the Friday pep rally.

“On Friday I have the game and with competition coming up we’ve started practicing on Saturday” said Keatts.

Competition season starts in two weeks in Hot Springs culminating in the state competition, also in Hot Springs, on December 17.

As the lone senior cheering it would seem logical Keatts is the captain but, she says there are no designations for captain or co-captain.

“I guess I’d be unofficial,” she said.

She did orchestrate the Homecoming pep rally.

Throw in sign making and such and there are at least a dozen hours a week dedicated to cheer activities.

Like the sold only on TV commercial, but wait, there’s more. Staying as fit as she want to has its own requirements.

“A lot of running on my own time,” said Keatts.

She even helped create a cross country team for today’s district meet in Danville.

“Alexis Franklin and I were doing that in seventh grade but both had to stop with hip injuries and we were just talking with Coach (Ronnie) Denton last week and he was like, ‘yall could win’, so that’s what we’re going to go do today,” said Keatts.

Three years ago the now senior duo led a district title team in junior high and senior high runner-up team.

Keatts and Franklin recruited a pair of freshmen and a sophomore to have the ability to have a team score for today’s meet.

Keatts also plays basketball. She started playing as a seventh grader and during the offseason this year decided it was time to discontinue the game – although she was going to have to cheer at them anyway.

She reconsidered.

“I missed the team. I really did. I missed everything about the sport,” said Keatts.

Unlike a lot of seniors, Keatts has a near full class load starting with college algebra second hour, followed by AP Literature, a teacher’s aide period, a history class, and seventh period athletics.