Carla Gonzalez was thrilled to receive flowers during halftime of the Wellsville-Middletown boys basketball game against Bowling Green on Feb. 9.

“I didn’t know they were real,” the W-M junior cheerleader said.

Gonzalez was recognized for her strong contributions in her first and final year with the Tigers’ cheerleading team. She is a foreign exchange student from Brazil.

“She’s an awesome person,” W-M sophomore Brooke Stroup said.

Gonzalez was one of several new members on the cheerleading squad this winter. The others were senior Meagan Cripe, junior Della Gosseen and freshmen Matti Hager, Jenna Collins and Legend Davis.

Brooke Stroup, seniors Shelby Frank and Kristi Hager and junior Alyssa Beach are the returning members of the cheerleading team, which is coached by Michelle Stroup.

Gonzalez said she enjoyed cheering on the W-M boys and girls basketball teams.

“I like it so much,” Gonzalez said. “They’re so nice. My cheerleading team is very good.”

All of the cheerleaders did a routine during the halftime of the boys game. Frank, Hager and Cripe also received flowers after the routine.

Frank and Hager have been with the cheerleading team all four years. When they were sophomores, they traveled to Class 1 Show-Me-Showdown at Missouri State University in Springfield with the boys basketball team, which finished fourth. Cripe cheers in boys basketball games since she plays for the girls squad.

“Shelby and Kristi have been doing this for four years,” Brooke Stroup said. “They’ve been helpful and they gave me a lot of advice. Meagan was a great addition to our team. Without her, we wouldn’t have been able to do our baskets and our crew stunts that we do now because she is really strong. She helped us a lot.”

Gonzalez, who never did cheerleading until this year, became a valuable member of the squad for her strong work ethic and her bubbly attitude.

“She is another flyer that we have, so that means we did more stunts than we did last year,” Brooke Stroup said. “She has such a great personality. Whenever she is around, she smiles and lights up the room a lot. She really caught us off-guard. She improved a lot within a few months. Now, she’s one of our best flyers.”

Gonzalez has been staying with the Van Horn family in Wellsville since August. She plans to head back to Brazil after the school year ends. The junior said her time in America will be something she will always cherish.

“I’m going to miss it very much,” Gonzalez said.