PHS senior Morgan Schmidt realized a lifelong dream this past weekend when she was named to the University of Wyoming cheerleading squad.

“When I was younger, I clogged for Absaroka Mountain Thunder and we would perform at pregame and halftime shows,” Schmidt said. “I remember seeing those girls and thinking ‘I want to be them someday.’”

At the tryouts to make the team, Schmidt competed against both former cheerleaders and incoming college freshmen from around the state in order to make the team as a flyer, the member of the squad who is lifted and thrown as part of team stunts.

Schmidt said she went into the process nervous, but the returning cheerleaders helped her along the way to settle her nerves and boost her confidence.

“It was intimidating competing with 4A girls that get coed stunting experience a lot more often than I did leading up to tryouts,” Schmidt said.

Despite not having as much experience with coed stunting, Schmidt has had the opportunity to perform difficult stunts as a flyer for the Panther cheer squad since her freshman year.

In her sophomore year, Powell added boys onto the team, allowing Schmidt to progress in her stunting capabilities through the rest of her high school career.

“Morgan [Schmidt] has had this goal since she was a freshman and she has worked very hard to get where she is at today,” Panther cheer coach Vicki Walsh said.

Walsh said that Schmidt is the first female cheerleader to make an NCAA Division I cheerleading squad in her 23 years of coaching. Former Panthers Brody Karhu and Geordan Weimer made the squad in previous years.

Schmidt is hoping to take her hard work, positive attitude and her ability to keep people closely knit together to the team with her to UW.

She was the lone senior on the Panther cheer squad this past year and winning a spot on the UW squad is something Walsh hopes will help motivate Schmidt’s teammates going forward.

“Morgan [Schmidt] has been such an inspiration for the past four years to everyone on the team,” Walsh said. “I think anyone can look up to her and see where hard work and determination can get you.”

Moving forward, Schmidt is excited for the opportunity to cheer in her home state as she knows she will receive tremendous amounts of support.

“All my friends and family have already been asking me for my schedule, even my family from Colorado looks forward to cheering me on,” Schmidt said.