Sports
Petite Dynamo Keeps the Wolfpack's Spirits Up
Cosumnes Oaks cheerleader Eve Hostettler is this week's Athlete of the Week.
Spend some time at a basketball game at Cosumnes Oaks High School and you’re likely to notice the pint-sized blonde shouting encouragement from the sidelines. She’s varsity cheerleader Eve Hostettler, 16, this week’s Elk Grove Patch Athlete of the Week.
Hostettler, who has been dancing and doing gymnastics since she was a toddler, defies any stereotypes of the airhead cheerleader. She takes AP courses, has joined the National Honor Society and sees cheering as another path to a college scholarship.
“It is hard and it can be stressful at times balancing school and cheerleading, but it’s what I aspire to do,” Hostettler said.
Hostettler’s coach, Conny Reed, says the cheerleader stands out for her willingness to take on new things. “Eve is just a little ball of energy and I enjoy coaching her,” Reed said. “She’s not one to ever tell you ‘no’ and whenever I tell her to try new stunt or routine, she’s the first one to say ‘OK’ and jump right on it.”
That extra dose of spirit can be especially important at a new school like Cosumnes Oaks, which is in its third year of operation. Hostettler, a junior, was part of the school’s first entering class.
“It was still a baby and then it started to grow our second year and every year we just kept adding more and more things,” Hostettler said of her campus. "My experience actually keeps getting better and better every year.”
So do Hostettler’s relationships with her fellow cheerleaders.
“Eve’s like a sister to me,” said junior Lauren Murdock. “She helps me out, keeps me sane and helps keep my head up. We both go through drama outside of cheer, so we help calm each other down too.”
Hostettler said her experience on the squad has taught her how to manage a team.
“I’ve learned communication and leadership skills such as hushing the team down and getting them to focus,” Hostettler said. “Social skills come with all of that too--like the way people react to certain things, tones and stuff like that.”
Cheerleading, like any other sport, can be demanding and physically punishing. Hostettler, who competes in regional tournaments along with supporting her school’s teams, rises early for 6 a.m. practice on Mondays and Fridays—sometimes after cheering at a game the night before.
While she hasn’t hurt herself cheerleading, she did have a few gymnastics injuries, she said, which just inspired her to take better care of her body.
“I hurt my wrist and ankle and it did get uncomfortable at times but I just kept living through it,” she said. “I like to work out and keep my body in shape.”
Cheering isn’t Hostettler’s only talent. She’s trained in ballet, Hawaiian dance and hip-hop.
“I’m also teaching myself how to play the piano and I taught myself how to play the guitar,” she said. “I sing too, I do the talent shows, I did contortion this year.” She laughed. “Anything that can make me move, I do.”
Hostettler is hoping her discipline and energy will pay off in college, where she plans to study physical therapy, “somewhere in Southern California.”
Her mother, Jennifer, said Eve’s positive, can-do attitude on the sidelines isn’t an act. “She never gives up and she never complains about anything,” Jennifer said. “She’s very self-sufficient and I’m very proud of her for that. She takes care of all her business herself.”
