Senior Shelby Packard is set to join a growing number of Cloverleaf High School cheerleaders who have gone on to continue their careers at the college level.

This fall, the 2017 CHS grad will be cheering for the NCAA Div. I West Virginia University Mountaineers. WVU is a member of the Big 12 Conference, which includes Baylor, Iowa State and Texas Tech.

Other recent Cloverleaf graduates who have gone on to college cheer careers include: Colleen Razem (Toledo), Cassie Grabowski (Toledo), Hanna Kotlarek (Kent State), Ashley Rose (Toledo), Bridget Razem (Morehead State), Ryleigh Manges (Ashland) and Shelby’s sister, Mackenzie (Ohio State).

In fact, Mackenzie, who will be a senior at OSU, tried her best to recruit her sibling to be a Buckeye, but Shelby immediately felt at home in the hills of Morgantown – drawn to the picturesque WVU campus on the shores of the Monongahela River. She plans to study engineering.

Shelby started in cheerleading at age 3 and was in tumbling before that.

“I saw my sister doing these stunts and I said, ‘I want to do that, too, Mom!’ “ Shelby recalled.

Because she was born early, Shelby had difficulty walking as a young child. In fact, a nurse told her mother Shelby would never be able to play sports. She took to cheering and tumbling as a way to strengthen her legs. Now, here she is today, continuing her education and cheer career at a major university. She’ll report for cheerleading camp June 3 and have a nightly two-hour practice once classes begin.

“I’ve made so many great memories in cheer,” Shelby said. “I’ve been doing it for 15 years and I’m not ready to give it up!”