By Dylan Smith, Staff Writer
It’s hard not to be distracted by an adorable one-year-old running around Garrett Sports Complex throwing golf balls around the Clyde’s eating area. For the first year head coach of the River Hawks Cheerleading team, Sarah Markel, it is just another day of balancing everything that is thrown her way.
It has “been a challenge” Markel said but she has made it work. She travels from Harrisburg for practices two days a week plus Saturday games. “It sucks,” said her boyfriend Jim Owen with a big grin on his face, but he was a big factor in Sarah’s decision to come to Susquehanna.
Owen graduated from Susquehanna in 2009 and encouraged Markel to apply for the head coach position.
“I knew he loved this place so much and from what he told me, I would enjoy it as much as well,” Markel said.
As a film graduate of Penn State University, where she cheered from 2010-14, she took a scale down from the Division I to Divison III. One thing Markel noticed about Susquehanna is the tight-knit community and wanted to bring in a new tradition she had when she was at Penn State.
“My freshman year, all of our parents would get together and tailgate together. My parents are still best friends with my best friends’ parents,” Markel said. “I want them to build a Susquehanna Cheer family and have lasting friendships after they leave.”
Family is a universal theme with Markel given that her and Owen’s parents love taking care of their grandson, but it was her mom who got her involved with Cheerleading. After spending only “three days” in gymnastics at age five, it wasn’t until she was six that she got involved Cheerleading.
“I hated [gymnastics] but [my mom and I] found out they had a youth program for Central Dauphin Cheerleading and I stuck with it and finished the program through high school.”
Among all the injury stories she has seen in her career, the most gruesome was one during high school.
Markel, with her high school team, Central Daulphin HS, advanced to the Universal Cheerleading Association (UCA) Nationals for a lift, being held in mid-air with one of her backspots injured with a compound fracture in her arm. Markel had no idea that her teammate was bleeding until after the routine and her bright white shoes was red.
“[She] fell out of a stunt… and then finished the routine,” Markel said. “She kept yelling ‘keep going, keep going’ but [she] was in complete shock.”
Strength and heart are an important part of the underappreciated sport but only two of the many involved with cheerleading. Markel explained that it takes a good coach to teach the “what to look for” in spots.
Bases and backspots are the guides for the flyers in order to maintain equilibrium. Markel explains further that many injuries happen with poor coaching and lack of certification.
“Those coaches that have the AACCA [American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators] certification have limited injuries because they are knowledgeable in the progressions and spots.”
Markel, who holds the AACCA certification, has been able to successfully compete both on and off the mats for the UCA National Championship at both the high school and collegiate level. She traveled down to Florida with Penn State as a cheerleader and with Central Dauphin East High School as their head coach for three years.
During the 2016-17 season, before coming to Susquehanna, her team won the District championships, placed 14th at States, and placed ninth in Medium Varsity Non-Tumbling National Competition. It was the first time the school had made and placed at Nationals.
Coaching to Markel is “all about teaching [her cheerleaders] what I know, and making an impact on their lives; not even becoming good cheerleaders, but becoming good people.” This stems from her work through THON during her undergraduate program.
“The best part was to be involved in the community and we would teach [the kids] to cheer and make them pompoms,” Markel said. “It’s been my favorite.”
While THON has been one of her favorite moments off the field, her favorite moment on the field was Joe Paterno’s 409th win against University of Illinois. Snow was coming down, the Nittany Lions took the lead in the fourth quarter. In the final seconds of the game, Illinois was setup with a 46-yard field goal to tie the game.
“Everybody in the stands was walking to get behind the goal post, flailing their arms, screaming and yelling. Ball goes up. Bounces off the goal post. We win the game,” Markel remembered. “You had goose bumps just watching those people move and helping out the team.”
Reminded of her past brings forward new and old traditions alike. For the future moving forward, Markel will continue to follow the university’s mission statement and bring her own home feeling to Susquehanna.