The college cheerleading experience took an exciting leap forward for Rochelle Township High School graduate Teddi Hacaga, who had the opportunity to perform in front of thousands of fans at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis while the Illinois State University men’s basketball team battled in the Missouri Valley Conference “Arch Madness” tournament earlier this year.

The postseason experience was one of Hacaga’s favorite moments during her sophomore season with the Illinois State cheerleading program. The former Lady Hub and two-time Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference champion joined the Redbirds in 2018 after helping lead RTHS to its first IHSA State Championship berth in eight years during the 2017-18 school year.

“There were so many great moments from this season,” Hacaga said. “I was able to keep my same stunt group from my freshman year, which made the experience even better. Being a part of the team makes the school year so much better because I get to see the people, who I call my second family, every week… One of my favorite parts about this season was learning new skills. We were able to perform a lot of new and fun stunts during games and practices.”

In addition to cheering with the Illinois State team, Hacaga has been working with an organization called the Universal Cheerleaders Association, which allows her to travel and teach other cheerleading programs about game day routines and more. Hacaga, who’s currently studying social work and planning to attend graduate school, will be looking to continue her learning and build new cheerleading skills as athletics remain on hold due to the coronavirus.

“I think my game-day attitude and my stunting have improved a lot,” Hacaga said. “I think there’s always room for improvement, so I’m always eager to learn new things and gain new skills… The virus has impacted our team a little bit. We were unable to hold our tryouts during our regular dates, and we haven’t been able to attend any open gym workouts. During this time, I’ve been trying to tumble in my backyard and make sure I still know all of our material. I really miss the team and being a part of all the fun activities at the end of the spring.”