Written by Tyler Kuehl
 
One of the newer spirit teams that has graced the campus at Davenport has been the Pompon team. They have been performing on the sidelines at football and basketball games since the 2015-16 season, but have only performed in competitions over the last two seasons.
 
One of the key pieces that was added back in 2016 to help the program make strides towards competition was Catherine Fell. The Ionia-native was a dancer since before the first grade. That base helped set her up to be a cheerleader in middle school, which she continued to do through high school.
 
Fell actually chose Davenport based on the tech program the school provided, as Cati was involved in a tech program at Ionia. Also, the fact that she was able to stay close to home swayed Fell's decision.
 
"What drove to me to go to Davenport," Cati mentioned. "It was so close [to home] and I would be getting a really good education."
 
Fell immediately jumped onto the newly revamped Pom squad, using both her dance and cheer backgrounds to be a key part of the Panthers.
 
"The biggest difference is that Pom is a lot sharper and more intense than dance, and a lot more dance-y than cheer. It's kind of like a happy medium between dance and cheer, where we have a lot of the sharp movements, routines and choreography than the dance team does."
 
Along with just being one of the performers, Fell is a co-captain, and with that has helped with the team's choreography, as well as their music for their routines. As a leader on the team, she also takes notes of each practice to pass along to all of her teammates, so they can review before practices and competitions.
 
After leaving DU, Fell wants to stay involved in the sport that has carried her through college.
 
"Ideally I'd love to stay active in the sport, I'd love to coach for a high school team or Davenport if they would have me back. I'd like to try to kickstart the sport on the West side of the state with choreography, cutting music and helping dance teams break into the Pom category. Growing the sport is my biggest ambition after Davenport."
 
Catherine will graduate next year with a degree in Project Management, and plans to use that in the events industry.
 
"I've done a couple of jobs in events. I'd love to be an in-house events coordinator."
 
Cati also has a "pipe dream" of moving to North Carolina dancing for the Carolina Hurricanes' Storm Squad or the AHL's Charlotte Checkers' Checkmates'.