Muskogee High School’s Madyson Hemenway
Senior captain Madyson Hemenway has become one of the steady voices behind the spirit of Muskogee High School, leading the cheer squad with the same confidence she has built over four years in the program.
As a senior, Hemenway has embraced the responsibility that comes with wearing the captain’s title. Her main job is to make sure all the girls are game-day ready and feel confident about every cheer and band dance they have learned. She said she enjoys meeting the new girls who join the program and helping build a sisterhood within the squad. That leadership is rooted in the unwavering support of her family, who she says have backed her throughout her cheerleading journey and never stopped believing in her abilities.
Cheer takes up plenty of time, especially in the summer, when the team practices every day except weekends from 7 to 11 a.m., with a heavy dose of conditioning built into those sessions. Away from the field and the gym, Hemenway enjoys hanging out with her sister and nieces. In the classroom, her favorite subject is psychology, and she points to Ms. Brice as her favorite teacher.
Hemenway said athletics has taught her how to become confident in her voice and how to work with others as a team, lessons she knows will carry into her future. One former teammate who left a lasting impression is Chesnie Gatzman, who Hemenway described as always super positive and someone who never lets you feel alone on hard days.
This season, Hemenway’s perseverance was recognized when she was named most valuable cheerleader, an honor she said meant a lot after four years of hard work. “I’ve had plenty of times where I felt like giving up on cheer, but I always pushed myself to stay because I knew that one day it would all make sense on why my journey was a bit harder than others,” Hemenway said.
