After being named Montgomery County High School’s homecoming queen on Sept. 30, Marina Ridenhour received a big round of applause from the school’s football cheerleading team.

“Having them as a support system was so nice,” said Ridenhour, who is the team’s captain. “I really appreciated that.”

Ridenhour, a senior, was selected homecoming queen during halftime of the football contest between MCHS and Wright City at Jim Blacklock Field. She was escorted by senior Matt Clark, a member of the school’s football team.

“This was my first time being nominated for anything,” Ridenhour said. “I was not expecting it. It was a very nice surprise. I appreciated all of the support, especially from my cheer squad and all of my peers in the crowd. It was very nice to see the support and all of the people out there watching me.”

Ridenhour was part of a homecoming court that included freshman Emily Clark, sophomore Brenna Ludy, junior Maddy Queathem and senior Elissa Brown. She was selected as a queen candidate by her senior class.

“I really appreciated all of the people on the court because I felt like they were all genuine and nice people,” Ridenhour said. “I love every single one of them. I wanted all of them to win as much as I wanted to win. Honestly, when it came down to it, it didn’t matter to me who won because I would have been happy for anybody who did.”

Ridenhour received her crown from Sam Queathem, who was last year’s queen. Queathem graduated from MCHS in May and is now attending State Fair Community College in Sedalia.

“Sam is a good friend of mine,” Ridenhour said. “That was a really cool moment, especially for her being back from college.”

Ridenhour said she had fun with all of the activities during homecoming week, including the Powderpuff football game on Sept. 28.

“Everything meant a lot to me because it really showed our school spirit all together,” the senior said. “Every day, we had a dress up day. We didn’t compete because it was not a competition, but all of us got dressed up on our spirit days. We had a day in which we brought our beach wear to school. It was really great to see that school spirit shown throughout that.”

Ridenhour is in her second year with the MCHS football cheerleading team. She said she became hooked with cheerleading when she joined the squad last fall.

“I decided to sign up because I wanted to be involved in as many activities as possible in high school before I left,” said Ridenhour, who is the only senior on this year’s team. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Ridenhour also plays golf in the spring and is a member of the FBLA, Student Council and National Honor Society groups. She plans to be a pediatrician in the future.

Ridenhour said after just two months, she’s already enjoying her senior year.

“I want to keep doing what I’m doing,” Ridenhour said. “I think I’m having a good start so far. I want to keep getting good grades and keep making great relationships with people because this year has been great so far. I just want to make sure that the people around me and I have a great year this year.”