By Caroline Housworth, Editor-in-Chief
Since the 1980s, Wheaton College’s cheerleading team has performed at both football and men’s and women’s basketball games to support players and build school spirit. As of fall 2025, they now share the sidelines with the Wheaton College dance team, which performs pom-style dance routines at football and basketball games as well.
The team was formed by two sophomores at Wheaton, in the spring of 2025, and they started their first season during their junior year in the fall of 2025. There were seven total girls on the team in September of 2025, when they performed at their first home football game at McCully Stadium. Currently, the 2026 dance team has nine members.
Among those nine girls are the two cofounders for the team: Kassidy Sheafe, a senior elementary education major, and Ansley Meadows, a senior studying secondary education and French. They both serve as co-captains. Sheafe said she has been participating in studio dancing since she was three years old, which inspired her to start the team.
“I find so much joy in dancing,” Sheafe said. “This is our second full year of the dance team, and I couldn’t be more excited.”
Sheafe and Meadows were roommates during their sophomore year, and while rooming together, they stayed up one night discussing their shared dream of starting a dance team at Wheaton.
“It was scary at first, way out of my comfort zone,” Sheafe said. “But it has honestly been such a blessing and one of the best things that has come out of my Wheaton College experience.”
This year, the team participated in Mastodon March, an event where student clubs parade in car floats to invite incoming freshmen to join their clubs.
“We walked along the cheer team, leading the parade and hyping up the freshmen. It was such a blessing to be a part of the parade this year, as it made us feel more official,” Sheafe told the Record.
Kamryn Pfeffer, a senior studying Spanish and psychology, serves as the captain of the cheer team. This is her first year as captain of the cheer team, and she expressed her enthusiasm about working alongside the dance team this fall.
“We’re excited to have the dance team joining us again this year to build school spirit and support our Thunder sports.”
Pfeffer also explained that although both teams share the sidelines, boost school spirit and attend the same games, there are major differences between the two teams.
“The dance team puts emphasis on dance technique and perfecting different styles, while cheer incorporates dance alongside chants, stunting, tumbling and other elements that are traditionally part of cheerleading,” she said. “The teams operate almost completely independently, communicating as needed to coordinate who will be performing where and when.”
Pfeffer explained that the process of coordinating performances is aided by knowing Meadows outside of working together on the court.
“Ansley Meadows is my roommate and close friend, making it easy for us to support each other and ensure both teams have a positive experience.”
Meadows agreed with Pfeffer that their relationship helps with coordination.
“I was able to communicate with Kamryn about walking alongside cheer at Mastodon March, and I’m aware of when they have practices or halftime shows, so we can give them the space they need to excel too.”
Meadows also expressed excitement about the year ahead as the team continues to establish itself. She described that her goals for the year ahead involve efficiency and organization.
“Whether it’s keeping up with schedules or arriving to practice on time or simply working hard on choreography outside of practice, I hope everyone brings their best effort to practice.”
Meadows also explained what practices and performances will look like for the team. As for practices, they start with a thorough stretch, practice dance routines and offer critiques to the dancers on how to improve.
Morgan Gerdes is a senior studying health science and one of the dancers on the team. She said that one of the new developments this year is that they are working directly with a choreographer. Their choreographer, Sydney Bradford, a family friend of Sheafe’s, does choreography for high school and college dance teams and will assist the team with choreography for their halftime show.
Gerdes hopes that this will be an opportunity for the team to highlight their dedication.
“We could not be more excited to showcase our hard work and passion for the sport.”
