ERIE — Headed to Gannon University to major in criminal justice, Moniteau graduate Halie Christy figured her cheerleading days were done.

She figured wrong.

“I saw an advertisement on campus about competitive cheer tryouts and decided to check it out,” Christy said.

She graduated from Gannon in November — after spending three and a half years as part of the university's competitive cheer squad.

Gannon has four teams: All-Girl, Coed, Game Day and Dance. Christy spent her first season on the All-Girl squad, the last three seasons on the Game Day unit.

A 2017 Moniteau graduate, Christy did not have the benefit of a competitive cheer program in high school. The Warriors did not begin a competitive cheer team until the year after she graduated.

“I really wish it was there when I was there,” Christy said of Moniteau's team. “But I'm glad it's there now.”

She was a cheerleader in high school, however, and ran the 300- and 100-meter hurdles on the Warrior track team. Christy was part of a KSAC championship track and field squad.

“We do get some athletes who want to join us, who may not have had the competitive experience in high school,” Gannon competitive cheer coach Kerri Makay said in an e-mailed statement. “However, if I meet a recruit who shows me they will do whatever it takes to be an asset on the team, be a hard worker, and is someone who will fit into our team culture, then I am more than willing to give them a chance.

“That is exactly what I did for Halie and that is exactly what Halie did for this team.”

The 5-foot-2 Christy was a “flyer” — the girl who goes in the air for stunts, basket tosses and pyramids — on Gannon's Game Day squad.

That unit placed third at the National Cheerleading Association's Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championships in Daytona Beach in 2019. The finish was the best in the seven-year history of the Golden Knights' program.

Game Day competitive routines are a little longer than the All Girl competition — taking up much of halftime at a basketball game — and incorporates dance as well.

The 2020 national championships were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That was devastating to us,” Christy said. “We worked so hard all season because we felt like we had a team capable of bringing back the national championship.

“My goal — one of the reasons I stayed with the program my whole college career — was to be part of the team that won the program's first national title.”

Regardless, she has no regrets.

“That team was more like a family. I learned so much,” Christy said.

“I completely agree with Halie,” Makay said of the Game Day team's prospects last year. “Even though it was the second year since the birth of that team, I have never been more confident in their ability to have taken it all the way.

“I told them from the day they got their team placements back in Fall 2019, they had a real shot to bring home that title.”

Makay was part of a national championship team while competing for Girard High School. She was one of the original 13 competitive cheerleaders when Gannon formed an All-Girl squad to begin the program.

Makay has been a major part of the program's expansion to four teams — with 80 student-athletes comprising those rosters.

“People wanted to be a part of a program where they themselves could grow as they were helping the program itself grow. With each year, we saw the growth in the roster,” Makay said.

“Coach Makay's been there since the beginning,” Christy said. “She has a lot of experience and instilled confidence in me that I could be a big part of the team.

“We put in a load of practice time, one and a half to two hours, five days a week. I took a full college course-load on top of that — 18 or 19 credits — so I had to learn to juggle my time.”

Now that she's graduated from college and looking to begin a career in the work force, Christy believes many of the elements that go with competitive cheerleading will continue to benefit her.

“I've become a more competitive person who can juggle things in life,” she said. “I've learned how to work and succeed under pressure ... a lot of practical life lessons.”

Makay holds Christy's contributions to the Gannon cheer program in high regard.

“Halie was, and still is, one of the hardest workers this athletic program has ever seen,” the coach said. “She was completely and truly dedicated to the program, and her team's success. She was a compassionate teammate, a thoughtful and respectable leader, and a committed student-athlete.

“I was so proud of how far she came, how much she grew and how much she progressed from the day she entered this program to the day she graduated.”