Featured Athlete: Isabel Szymanski

Margo Friloux, Section Editor • October 4, 2021

Junior Isabel Szymanski cheers on both the high school varsity team and on Lady Reign at Spirit of Texas. Szymanski has been cheering for seven years.

Pre-game:

Favorite hype song: “Don’t stop me now” by Queen

Athlete you look up to: I look up to the really good tumblers on my own team and other teams.

Years of experience: 7 years

Post-game:

The Red Ledger: Why did you start cheering and when?

Isabel Szymanski: I started with sideline cheer for Allen Sports Association (ASA) when I was five and I’ve been tumbling since before then. I didn’t start competitive cheer until I was 10, and I started because my best friend did it.

Junior Isabel Szymanski throws a tuck at the Rock Hill game. Szymanski cheered at Wylie Elite prior to Spirit of Texas. (Olivia Lauter)

TRL: What team do you cheer for?

IS: Lady Reign at Spirit of Texas.

TRL: How would you compare school cheer and competitive cheer?

IS: School cheer is more about getting the crowds involved as you cheer. Competitive cheer requires a more complex skill set when doing difficult tumbling and higher level stunting.

TRL: What are your proudest accomplishments in cheer?

IS: I have won the National Cheer Association Competition (NCA) four times.

TRL: Describe a day in your life.

IS: I wake up, go to school, get home for like 10 minutes, leave for practice, practice for three hours, get home at 10 p.m., eat dinner, do homework.

TRL: What is your favorite thing about cheer?

IS: My favorite thing about cheer is competition season and the adrenaline rush I get before competing.

TRL: Who inspires you and why?

IS: My coaches inspire me because they’re always pushing me to do better.

TRL: Who are your biggest supporters?

IS: My mom, my dad, and my coaches are my biggest supporters

TRL: What’s your favorite cheer memory?

IS: My year when I was on a level 3 team we won pretty much every competition

TRL: Why do you cheer?

IS: I cheer because I think it’s a lot of fun, even though it’s a lot of time and effort I really enjoy spending time with my team and learning new skills and having fun at practices

About the Contributors

Margo Friloux, Section Editor

Entering her final year on staff, Margo is excited to work with her Co-Sports Editor and Leopard Life alum, Will Doig. This year is bittersweet to Friloux. She is ready to soak up the rest of her high school years in the newsroom. Out of the newsroom, Friloux is hoping it up, hanging out with friends, going to Braum’s, watching “Grey’s Anatomy” or “Star Wars” and hanging out with her sisters. Friloux is an avid Harry Styles and Anakin Skywalker fan. She gets the chance to see her idol, Mr.Styles, in concert this year, and she is determined to make him fall in love with her. In school, Friloux is a part of the Patient Care Technician (PCT) class, NHS, LARK and basketball. Although she’s still shedding tears over the retirement of Parker and Lindsey, she and Doig are still carrying on the Leopard Life legacy. Live. Laugh. Love. TRL.

Olivia Lauter, Section Editor

Heading into her fourth and final year in TRL, senior Olivia Lauter could not be more thrilled to soak up every last minute of shooting sports, events and portraits for her favorite publication. Lauter has spent every day of her high school career with a camera around her neck, and you won’t catch her without it until graduation day. As well as being the photo editor for TRL, Lauter is a varsity cheerleader and involved in PALS and NHS. When she’s not on the sidelines with her camera or cheering on the Leopards, Lauter is with her friends, who she adores more than life itself. You will probably hear “last time, best time” and how “bittersweet” senior year is continually from Lauter this year, but she is just excited to spend one more year doing what she loves alongside the people she loves on TRL.