STAND UP AND CHEER

Sometimes in life you notice that every time you see one person another person is always right there with them. They just seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly, you just can’t beat some pairings ladies and gentlemen.

In this week’s Cheerleader Profile we want to introduce you to Brooke Lashley and her Coed Cheer Partner Jaylen Pennisson, they are the “INSEPARABLE PARTNERS”! Everywhere you go around campus, StarkVegas or just cruising down the highway on some of those famous college “ROAD TRIPS” if you see Jaylen, Brooke will be close by.

Background:

Brooke is one of those out of state students that we are so lucky chose State to come for the next step in her life and has fallen in love with Miss. State just like we did. She grew up in St. Louis, MO attending and graduating from Pattonville High School. She is now a sophomore majoring in Biology (Pre-med). Brooke began cheering her freshman year at Hattonville HS. She joined a competitive cheer team as a junior because of her love of cheering and decided she wanted to continue cheering in college. Brooke also achieved a Level 9 in Gymnastics in high school while still finding time to compete on her school’s diving team throughout middle and high school.

Jaylen grew up in Bay St. Louis, MS and graduated from Bay High School. Jaylen is a sophomore (just like Brooke) majoring in Biological Sciences (Pre-Med).... just like you know who! Jaylen began to cheer as a sophomore in high school and surprised himself falling in love with the sport of cheering. He knew he wanted to continue cheering in college so he joined an All-Star cheer team based in New Orleans. Through intense training Jaylen learned the skills he would need to accomplish a dream in his young life, cheering at Miss. State! Jaylen does possess another skill that has carried him to another remarkable accomplishment, you see Jaylen was a 3-TIME STATE CHAMPION in high school in ICE SKATING! WOW! I can’t stay off my caboose for ten seconds on any kind of skates. I for one am officially jealous of you Jaylen.

Both Brooke and Jaylen see it as their job to keep a smile on their face on the field and anywhere else they happen to go because they are representing the BEST university in Mississippi. They also try to encourage others of any age which Jaylen says is one of his strongest attributes. Brooke said, “Hearing those Cowbells from all around the stadium and seeing her fellow students and fans having a good time makes her happy and want to have a good time as well”.

When I asked them about the biggest influences in their life Jaylen responded that his is his mother. He said, “she has always influenced me to be the best I can be. My goal is to one day become a doctor like her so I try to follow in her footsteps and listen to her advice so I can achieve the next dream in my life”. Brooke told me that her partner Jaylen is her greatest influence. “Jaylen was the first friend I had when I arrived at Mississippi State. I didn’t know a single person when I transitioned from Missouri (The Show-Me-State) to Mississippi. I was so nervous and there he was.” Brooke went on to say “Cheering for Mississippi State helped her make friends and that Jaylen showed her around and helped her get use to where everything was. Now, we are BEST FRIENDS and hangout everyday even having some of the same classes together”.

I asked each of them for their favorite memory so far while cheering for State. Brooke wasted no time in saying that hers is working so hard as a team, over-coming so many obstacles to get their routine down for Cheer Nationals. They got to Nationals in Orlando and gave all they had finally hitting the routine they worked for months to perfect. Brooke said she got emotional and happy when she saw the faces of their coaches as they jumped up and down themselves because their “kids” had finally hit the routine at Finals on the last day helping the MSU Coed Team achieve 5th in Nationals Competition. Jaylen made me laugh when he said his favorite memory to date is “Running across Davis-Wade stadium’s turf during the STATE spell-out. I use to get so nervous because I didn’t want to be “that guy” that fell down while running with the flags!”

After graduating from State both Jaylen and Brooke plan to pursue careers in medicine. Brooke specified that she plans to go to med school and become a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon for Sports Medicine. She is motivated to reach her goal so she can help out kids and teens with sports injuries like she had (torn ACL and ankle reconstructive surgery). She worked through sometimes agonizing PT (like another cheerleader you will soon meet) because she dreamed of cheering in college.

So now you know two of the young people who work hard to inspire you and motivate you to be excited about football and basketball games. They have a full load of classes and labs then head to Cheer Practice every night building to pep rallies and games as well as doing promo events. Through all of this these wonderful young men and women maintain their grades steadily working for their degrees. We should all be very proud of Brooke, Jaylen and all the others. Support them, smile at them, thank them for their sacrifice to represent you and STATE. I’m sure if you go down to them before or after games they will speak to you and give autographs.

Brooke and Jaylen, thank you for the honor you gave me in letting me introduce you to all the State alumni and friends. You guys ROCK and I am so PROUD of YOU BOTH!

Social Media for Your “INSEPARABLE PARTNERS:

Follow Jaylen on Instagram at @jaylenpennison

Follow Brooke on Instagram at Brooke_mariee