Albion College closed out their 2025 football season on Saturday with a game against Calvin University. For the rest of the school year, Albion’s cheer team will no longer be found cheering outdoors on the track, but on the basketball court sidelines.
On Aug. 16, 2024, Albion announced they had hired a new head cheer coach, Mercedes Pace, alumna ‘20, thus “reviving” the cheer program. Since then, Pace said she has observed the team “build a reputation for itself,” something she added was “inspiring” and “helpful” for the team’s growth.
New Beginnings
Pace said she cheered for Albion for all four years of her attendance, and was a student coach during her “extra semester.”
“That’s kind of how I got into this,” Pace said. “I knew that stepping into this role would be me building up the program.”
Pace said that upon inquiring about the status of the team a couple of years prior, she learned the college struggled with “student involvement,” as well as “from a coach aspect.”
“I knew that it was going to be a lot of teaching them what it’s like to be a cheerleader and building the team for what the college needs,” Pace said. “Cheer to me has always been about school spirit.”
Detroit senior and cheer captain Bria Jackson has been on the team for all four years at Albion and helped grow the team even when they didn’t have a coach. Jackson said that during her second year, the team “stopped having a coach.”
It wasn’t until Pace stepped in during Jackson’s junior year that the head coach title would be in use again. Though, Jackson added, that didn’t mean team members weren’t working behind the scenes.
“I was able to get a couple of girls with the permission from the athletic director,” Jackson said. “We were able to have a mini team, but I was pretty much the one orchestrating everything as far as bringing people to the games to cheer.”
The Leadership Behind it All
Since Pace’s addition to the team, she said there’s been an influx of new members and changes.
“I’m trying to build the program up,” Pace said. “Last year I had 12, this year I started with 28.”
Pace added that she worked hard over this past summer to build a leadership team of captains, co-captains, community service managers and social media managers. These roles are given to team members that she knows she can “trust” to “get things done.”
Jackson is the team’s captain, whilst fellow Detroit senior Hailey Manson-Wilson serves as the team’s co-captain.
“It gives me a lot of responsibility, but it’s very rewarding, especially when having freshmen on the team,” Jackson said. “Seeing them learn things or be able to get things that they didn’t think they could before is very rewarding to see.”
In their leadership positions, Manson-Wilson said she and Jackson work to ensure that all of their teammates are comfortable in their space.
“We spend a lot of time outside of practice trying to help the cheerleaders,” Manson-Wilson said. “Asking questions, answering questions as well as just trying to make sure that everybody has comfortability within themselves and within each other.”
Other leaders on the team include Dallas sophomore Stephane Ortiz, the underclassmen co-captain, and Chicago junior Sarynete Holmes, the community engagement manager. Norridge senior Hayla-Lyn Gilly and Detroit senior Kaylun Butler serve as the team’s social media managers.
As the team’s community engagement manager, Holmes said that she works to expand their involvement with the Albion community, whether it’s “people contacting” them or “wanting to get involved” with them.
“It does make a difference if people know we exist,” Ortiz said.
Not Just a Team
Both in and outside of practice or at games, Pace said she works “really hard” to encourage “team bonding” and let her athletes “know that this is a team sport versus an individual sport.”
“They know that they can talk to me about anything. A lot of the ladies are really good friends or have become really good friends,” Pace said.
Some bonding activities include themed practices, study tables and team breakfasts or “bond” nights together, Butler added.
“Our coach ensures that we spend a lot of time with each other,” Manson-Wilson said.
Another way that the team spends more time with each other is through community service. Pace requires that all members of the team complete two community service hours a month. These hours consist of attending events planned by Holmes.
“We’re making sure that we stay active in our community,” Holmes said. “So we’re also getting our name out a little more.”
Jackson says that the team interacts with each other in a “sisterly” manner and not just as teammates.
“It’s nice being captain,” Jackson said. “It’s not just me telling people what to do, it’s more so just me having a big sister role.”
Holmes said that the leadership team works “together,” even when making “tough calls with the team.”
“I’ve built a lot of rapport with my teammates,” Manson-Wilson said. “I’m also a teammate as well. We’re cheerleaders; we’re all a part of the team.”
Ortiz says that if there was one word to describe the team, it would be “sisterhood.”
“I love the cheer team,” Ortiz said. “I feel like it’s a bunch of sisters. We’re going to have each other’s back no matter what.”
What’s Next for the Cheerleaders?
Pace said her “ultimate goal is to have a varsity team, to one day have those 30-some girls.”
“I do hope to retain high numbers for the cheer team,” Jackson said. “We are looking to become a team sport, so if we could do that in the next couple of years, I’ll be very happy.”
Holmes says that she hopes the school will give the team more “recognition” and allow them more opportunities to cheer and grow as a program.
“I hope that the team stays consistent with the numbers and that we get more and more girls that want to cheer,” Holmes said. “I hope that the program grows into something that’s here to stay.”
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