The infamous toast-throwing ritual at the end of the third quarter is followed by another Quakers tradition - the rapid emptying out of the student section. But when the fourth quarter rolls around, the football team still has plenty of noisy support just a few paces away from the Penn sidelines.
The Penn Cheerleading team, coached by Joe Neary, has made a nice home for itself on the track behind the Penn bench at Franklin Field. And as the team continues to grow in size and scope, there's a good chance that its appearances might not be limited solely to Penn sporting events.
Senior Lea Artis, one of the team's captains, has set some important goals for the team in her fourth and final season - most notably, giving the team the physical tools it needs to compete in cheerleading competitions at the national level.
"Right now, we want to compete regionally," she said. "Ultimately, I'd like to set the team up so that it can be in a position to compete nationally."
Under Neary, who took over the coaching job last year, the team practices twice a week for three hours at a time, and it can spend up to ten hours working together on gamedays.
While Artis has a long background in cheerleading, having developed a passion for the sport early on in her childhood, not everyone on the team came to Penn with that much experience.
Senior Dan Falcone, who also serves as a captain, was convinced by a girl to try out for the team at the beginning of his freshman year.
Though he played hockey and lacrosse in high school, Falcone had never been involved with any kind of cheerleading team before he came to Penn.
The adjustment took some getting used to, but Falcone quickly picked up on the art of stunting and developed into a team leader.
"At first, it's kind of scary when a girl is up 15 feet in the air and you [have to catch her]," he said. "But you get used to it after a while."
It gets much scarier when one of those girls falls, as a cheerleader did during the La Salle basketball game two years ago. (She was forced to take a semester away from Penn.) But that is not much of a deterrent.
More than 60 people attended the team's spring and fall tryouts this season, according to Neary.
Falcone, who is currently nursing an ACL injury and plans to return for the Dartmouth game, has never regretted his unexpected decision of joining the team, noting that the opportunity to travel to other places across the country as enhanced the overall experience.
"The [NCAA men's basketball] tournaments are the best," he said.
Currently, in addition to the football and men's basketball teams, the cheerleaders can be found at sprint football and women's basketball games - the 'B' team if nothing else. But according to Neary, the cheerleading team is always looking for chances to branch out.
"We're about supporting athletics," he said. "It's my job to get [the team] the best experience possible and make sure that everyone's having fun."
