WINNEMUCCA - You always hear the stories of football, baseball, softball or basketball players taking the next step in their careers at a college or university.
However, there is one sport at Lowry High School that produced a handful of Division I athletes. The Buckaroo cheerleading team has sent a number of its members on to college in the past including Samantha Rice (University of Nevada) and Ryan Guariglia (Boise State) in 2008. Ronnie Jo Schofield will be entering his second year as a cheerleader for the University of Nevada.
You can add Michael Drake and A.J. Jackson to that list, as the 2013 Lowry graduates will be attending Oregon State and Arizona State, respectively, this fall.
The two schools are both in the Pac 12 and the duo will have the opportunity to see each other again, when the two schools play each other. Oregon State is in the North Division, while Arizona State is part of the South Division.
At the start of his freshman year in high school, cheerleading was the furthest thing in the mind of Drake. He started out his high school career playing football but a season-ending injury during his freshman season all but ended his football career.
Drake continued his swimming career at the high school in the spring but decided to try out for the cheerleading team his sophomore year and stuck with for the next three years.
"If you would have told me I was going to go to Oregon State as a cheerleader when I was a freshman, I would have called you a liar," Drake said. "It was the last thing on my mind. When I got hurt playing football, I figured it wasn't for me. I tried out for the team the next year and made it and was hooked from there."
Drake has been busy this summer as he is part of the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) staff and has been a camp leader for high school camps. In the summer of 2012, Drake was named a high school All-American at a camp in Davis, Calif., along with two other of his varsity teammates.
On deciding on attending a school, Oregon State was pretty much his top and only choice.
"I always wanted to go to Oregon State," he added. "I was nervous during the tryouts, just because I did not want to mess up. I can't thank Diane Rice (Lowry cheerleading coach) enough. Without her support and coaching none of this would be possible."
Jackson was a member of the Lowry cheerleading team his junior and senior years. While Drake knew where he wanted to go to school, Jackson was looking at Cal Poly, the University of Utah and the University of Illinois. Jackson has already moved down to Tempe in preparation for the upcoming school year as practice has begun.
"I am just really excited," Jackson said. "There is a lot of opportunity down at Arizona State. "I took a trip down to Tempe for campus tour and went back down there for tryouts."
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Jackson said he was a little nervous at tryouts, because of the long waits and he added there were others with a lot more experience than he had.
"It was tougher than I thought, but I enjoyed it," Jackson said. "I really didn't expect to be in this position. I thought it was an unattainable goal when I made the team my junior year. Of course I wanted to be in the position I am now, but didn't think it would happen."
Jackson will study civil engineering at Arizona State.
"Diane and Michael helped me out in a number of ways," Jackson said. "I got pretty lucky. There were a lot of people that took time out of their day to help me. I am sad leaving home and the people here, but on the other hand I am ready to grow up and move on."
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