Senior Cheerleader Cyrina Beckmann Is First Community Credit Union's Female Athlete Of The Month For Edwardsville High School's

EDWARDSVILLE - Cyrina Beckmann has been a cheerleader for four years and accomplished much for Edwardsville High School. Beckman has been named the Edwardsville High School Female Athlete of the Month for January 2020.

Beckmann, a senior who has Cassidee Anselmo as head coach, has been on the varsity team for all four years at Edwardsville and was first-team all-Southwestern Conference in 2018-19. She's also been part of the team that's won the Illinois Competitive Cheerleading Association championship twice, while the team has back-to-back top-ten finishes in the IHSA state competition.

"I have been cheering since sixth grade," Beckmann said, "but before I was in sixth grade, I was a gymnast, starting when I was seven-years-old. Cheerleading, to me, is a sport that makes me feel special about myself, and it holds a very special place in my heart. I love being part of such a hard-working and devoted team. These last four years, I have developed friendships that I will never forget, and I hope they last a long time. Cheer is really an escape for me. It allows me to tumble, stunt, jump, perform and do my own thing, and not have to think about anything else."

Beckmann thanked her parents and family, along with her former and current coaches, for their help and support during her time as a Tigers' cheerleader.

"I would like to thank my coaches, Cayla Bowen and Ashley Walsh, who were my coaches from my freshman year to junior year," Beckmann said. "Unfortunately, they could not coach this year, but I'm very grateful for the opportunities they both gave me. Cayla was my coach through gymnastics as well, so we had a really close relationship. They never gave up hope on our team and pushed us so hard, and I am extremely grateful for them.

"I would also like to thank Cassidee Anselmo, my current coach," Beckmann also said. "She has been through so much this past year coaching us, and she inspires me every day to be better than the day before. And most importantly, I would like to thank my parents. My parents have always supported me and kept me going. They taught me so much, but also went beyond that to show their love and affection for me."

Being involved in cheerleading has taught Beckmann about being a good and supportive teammate who is always there to help someone, no matter the circumstances.

"When I joined the varsity team as a freshman, I was very nervous," Beckmann said. "Along the way, I have had many supportive teammates to teach me skills that I never would have learned outside of cheer. I one hundred percent love to help other people. If a teammate, in fact, if any one person is feeling down about themselves, I will always be there to bring them back up. Everyone is special in his or her own way, and they deserve to see that about themselves. I remember there have been many times I have been so frustrated that I wanted to give up, but I learned there were very important people counting on me. Cheer has taught me commitment, whether it be in school, a job or at practice, and to fight for what I believe in. I have become who I pictured I would be, and I could not be more grateful."

Beckmann has been on the high honor roll at Edwardsville for 11 consecutive quarters, is ranked in the top 15 percent of her class, and is also a member of the school's National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society. She's also always offering to help other students with any kind of help they may need in their classes. Beckmann has also been accepted to the five colleges that she applied for but hasn't yet made up her mind where she'll wind up going to school. She'll most likely give up cheerleading after high school to concentrate on her academic work, and is leaning towards majoring in the medical field, with the goal of becoming either a nurse practitioner or a nurse anesthetist.

"Over the past four years of high school, I have gained so much knowledge of how the world works," Beckmann said, "and I want to learn more. If I could help others out in any way, especially through a health career, that's exactly what I want to do with my life."

Riverbender.com's Athlete of the Month program is made possible by the generosity of our sponsors, and the cooperation of our area high schools. This is a great accomplishment, and one to be very proud of. Please join us in congratulating this young athlete. We at Riverbender.com wish you continued success in your future!

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