She started dancing when she was three. She’s now cheerleading for No. 1.
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Michelle Skidmore is 18 years old. She attended Welches Middle School,grades 7-8. Then it was off to Sandy High for grades 9-12.

The next stop was the University of Oregon where she tried out for the cheerleading squad – up against 140 other hopefuls.

“I was scared out of my mind,” Skidmore said. “It was three days of
competition, from 6 p.m. to midnight.”

They practiced so late that the fire sector chief came by at night to see if they
were OK.

The trial paid off. Skidmore made the cheerleading squad. What she didn’t
know was the Oregon Ducks were destined to become the No. 1 (AP and
Coaches polls) football team in the nation.

“I’ve always been a Duck fan,” she said. “But my goodness. I didn’t expect
this. I didn’t even realize what was happening, at first. But now, I’ve never
cheered in a losing game.”

In case you’ve been living under a cedar tree in the woods, the Oregon
gridders are unbeaten (11-0), and ranked the best in the country.

Skidmore now spends her days (and nights) in Eugene, balancing a rigorous
schedule of bouncing between classes, books, and leading cheers for the
Ducks.

“It’s not too chaotic,” Skidmore said, proving she also has a firm grasp on
understatement. “We practice four to five times a week, train two to three
days a week.”

Plus, she works out at the Casanova Center along with Ducky, the famous
Oregon mascot, who pops off push-ups matching every score put up by the
prolific offense.

“He’s the best ever, and he’s very strong,” she said. “We all work out and
train with weights and do cardio.”

And then she cheers at the football games, plus volleyball games, and now in
the early part of hoops season, exhorts the crowds at men’s and women’s
basketball games.

How does she find time for school? “Fortunately, I’m a complete nerd,” she
said. “I love school.”

Skidmore is majoring in pre-education, and credits her time at Welches Middle
School as the inspiration behind her school choice.

“I absolutely loved it,” she said of her Welches experience. “It made me want
to be a teacher. The small community helped a lot. Here at Oregon I see all
the new technology, and I know how difficult it is at small schools, and how
teachers strain to do well with so little. That gave me the passion to learn
more and work harder. I would love to come back and teach at Welches one
day.”

But in the meantime, it’s a life full of challenges at UO.

“I’ve had to learn a lot,” she said. “The (cheerleading) system is hard to get
used to.”

Perhaps her early days at Welches and Sandy High was a good proving
ground for the local product.

Michelle’s mom and stepdad, Jodi and Phillip Emmerling, still live in Welches.
Her father, David Skidmore, lives in Tigard.