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EDITOR'S NOTE: Katherine Whitty was the Week 8 winner in this year's College Cheerleader of the Week contest. Look for her in about a week when all the weekly winners face off in a playoff tournament that will decide the College Cheerleader of the Year.
Katherine Whitty
Sophomore, biology at LSU
Hometown: Baton Rouge, La.
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| LSU's Katherine Whitty (US Presswire) |
Whitty: "LSU thrives as a Southern tradition: Our colors of purple and gold were actually borrowed from Mardi Gras."
SPiN: How long have you been cheerleading?
Whitty: "This would be my ninth year. My friends got me into it. I started in middle school, in fifth grade. This was something all my friends did when we were young. I was (originally) a gymnast and in tenth grade, I decided to do (cheerleading) competitively when I quit gymnastics."
SPiN: What's the best thing about cheerleading?
Whitty: "I guess because you're so involved not only with your school, you get to know the athletes and people. It also offers other people a chance to do collegiate sports."
SPiN: What's the worst/hardest thing about cheerleading?
Whitty: "The time commitment with regard to school. We practice about 10 hours per week, we have workouts twice a week for an hour each, and the team has (football) game days on Saturday on top of men's and women's basketball, gym and volleyball."
SPiN: What's the most irritating cheerleader stereotype?
Whitty: "That we're just ditzy and not athletes, that we don't spend time in practice and just jump around on the sidelines. (People) don't see the hard aspects of cheerleading."
SPiN: Do you plan on cheerleading as a profession after college?
Whitty: "No. I'm pre-med. I've applied to be in the ENT (ear, nose and throat) track."
SPiN: What's your favorite movie/TV show about cheerleaders?
Whitty: "The only one I can think of is Bring It On."
SPiN: If Hollywood made a cheerleading movie and you were the star, what actress would play you?
Whitty: "Maybe the girl from Stick It, the gymnastics movie ... Haley Graham. I guess she resembles me because she's a gymnast and an athlete. She can handle doing all of this, the stunts and tumbling."
SPiN: What do you think about Bring It On?
Whitty: "I don't think it portrays cheerleading very accurately but it does show the difficult stunting and competition. I'd give it three stars -- I can understand it, it's interesting to watch. It's not an awful movie, just not accurate."
SPiN: Who's the best looking athlete in sports and why?
Whitty: "I guess Tom Brady. I like to watch football and he's a great athlete and he's good looking."
SPiN: What's the most difficult routine you've done as a cheerleader?
Whitty: "The one this year. We're training for national competitions (UCA College Cheerleading National Championships in mid-January). (Our routine) is a series of tumbles, stunts, basket tosses, pyramids and cheers."
SPiN: Who's the most famous person you've met?
Whitty: "I guess Les Miles -- I don't think I've met anyone famous."
SPiN: What's your favorite cheer to fire up the home crowd in a close game?
Whitty: "Our pre-game cheer when our band plays and we dance to it."
SPiN: Why should our readers vote for you?
Whitty: "I guess I'm a good all-around cheerleader. I'm good at cheering and I'm also on the competition team. I love to cheer, I love LSU and I love being here. I don't take it for granted."
| College Cheerleader of the Week Archive | ||||
| Regular season: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Playoffs: First round | Quarterfinals | Semis | National Title | Offseason: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6
Profiles: Arkansas' Laura Cole | Miami (Ohio)'s Megan Schwieterman | LSU's Katherine Whitty | Minnesota's Megan Jokinen | S. Carolina's Whitney Jones | Miami's Christina DeMaria | Mississippi State's Kylie Estes |
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