Placing third at the Universal Cheerleaders Association National Championships would have been a fitting farewell to competitive cheering for anyone involved in the sport.

For some of Butler's seniors last season, it was.

For a few others, it wasn't the end.

“I really didn't think I'd be doing (cheerleading) anymore,” 2021 Butler graduate Kendell Atkinson said. “But then ... I didn't want it to be over.”

Atkinson and former Butler senior cheerleading teammates Aleena Hutchens and Lily Clever are now freshmen on the Slippery Rock University cheerleading squad. A fourth Butler teammate, Emma Stewart, is a freshman cheerleader at West Virginia University.

Hutchens and Stewart knew they wanted to continue in the sport. Atkinson and Clever decided to try out at SRU.

“This is different for me because I wasn't on our competitive cheer team at Butler,” Clever said. “This (SRU cheerleading) was a big change at first.

“I'm so glad I'm doing it now. The atmosphere at these games is so much fun.”

Atkinson agreed.

“The crowds are so much bigger. You can feel the energy down here on the track,” she said. “It's awesome.”

Stewart has not had an opportunity to be on the field cheerleading at a home WVU football game yet, but will when the Mountaineers host Texas Tech Saturday.

“I have been in the stands, so I've experienced what those games are like,” Stewart said. “Thousands of people ... I can't wait to get out there.”

Stewart is part of WVU's game-day cheer squad. The competitive cheer team is not affiliated with the university and she is not part of that.

SRU does have a competitive cheer team and will compete at the NCAA Championships at Daytona Beach in April. SRU previously competed at UCA Nationals and placed at that event a number of times.

The Rock cheerleaders practice twice a week and appear at community events. They do fund-raising efforts as well.

The first round of tryouts at SRU and WVU were done virtually. Hutchens estimated more than 100 initially tried out at SRU. The team kept 26.

“You recorded a video of yourself performing stunts and dance and submitted it,” Hutchens said. “It wasn't nerve-wracking, but I didn't know what I was up against. You didn't know how good the others were.”

WVU kept seven girls and five guys on its cheerleading team. Stewart is uncertain how many tried out at the beginning.

But she was comfortable with the process.

“I liked the virtual tryout because I could spend more time planning out and executing what I wanted to do,” she said.

“I enjoy the game-day cheerleading because it's mostly stunting and tumbling, and that's what I like to do.”

This quartet had to learn how to perform with a new crop of teammates, however — not the same girls they grew up with and competed alongside of for years.

“The older girls were great with us when we first got here,” Atkinson said. “They introduced themselves right away, took us under their wing.

“They knew how we felt. They were in this position once before themselves.”

Stewart said WVU cheerleaders are from Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and West Virginia, along with other states.

“It takes a little while to come together because we all came from different backgrounds, had different coaches and techniques,” she said.

“But we all love cheerleading. That's the common bond.”

Stewart is involved in the forensics program at WVU. Hutchens is studying education, Atkinson and Clever healthcare administration at SRU.

“It's so exciting seeing these girls move on,” Butler competitive cheer coach Marianne Miller said. “They were part of the senior class I had a hard time letting go.

“Now it's a different start for them. Watching them soak up this atmosphere, expanding their experiences and knowing they're Butler people, representing our program ... it gives me goose-bumps.”