Alysha CASTONGUAY

CELEBRITY CHEER & WOONSOCKET HS, WOONSOCKET, RI

Aside from her slight resemblance to Britney Spears (pre-Kevin Federline), one of the first things you notice about iS-year-old Alysha Castonguay is her diesel arms, which she proudly admits are the result of some serious stunting.

This graduating senior had the chance to exhibit her strength as a base and tumbler for her large senior coed team at Celebrity Cheer in New Hampshire (she carpooled an hour and a half, twice a week to get there) and her grace as a main flyer for Woonsocket HS’s coed varsity spirit and competition squads.

“When I first got to Celebrity I flew a lot and did a lot of coed stunting with my partner Tim,” Alysha says. “But when you get to a certain level, there are so many things you need to have, and I only had a one and a half twist when I tried to double out of my stunts, so they ended up pulling me down to base. I think I shocked my coaches and teammates when I started basing, because I was pretty strong.”

With various responsibilities outside of cheering, including a part-time job at Abercrombie & Fitch, maintaining her A average in school, traveling to various parts of the country as Miss Teen Galaxy 2005 and speaking to more than 500 grade school kids as a spokesperson for the DARE program, Alysha has become somewhat of a pro at squeezing just about anything into her crazy schedule.

A perfect example of this ability was made clear the day of her AC cover shoot in New York City. That very same evening, Alysha was expected back in Rhode Island (a three-hour train ride away), fully dressed and made up fora graded performance of her theater arts production of The Music Man (she played one of the main dancers), at 6 pm sharp. While most people would have spent the day a nervous wreck, Alysha took her dual commitments in stride, rocked our shoot and ended up arriving at her performance with a few minutes to spare.

MYMOMJYCOQCH

Alysha’s first taste of cheerleading came when she was 8 years old and heard about the Woonsocket Redskins Youth Football and Cheerleading Organization through friends. As one of those little girls who always dreamed of becoming a cheerleader, Alysha leaped at the chance to show off her spirit on the sidelines. Since she took to it so much, Alysha’s mom, Dawn, decided to step in as coach the following year when a position opened up. The two have been hooked on cheerleading ever since.

Dawn, who was a 15-year competitive roller skater, most recently took over Alysha’s varsity squad this , season, after assisting in years past.

“The opportunity to coach Alysha has meant so much,” says Dawn. “Being her mom and her coach has helped me stay close with her through her youth and teenage years. I was able to watch her grow as a daughter and a friend.”

Alysha agrees and says, “I think our relationship is stronger, because we were always together.” But she is also quick to point out that she didn’t get any preferential treatment. “Oh, I got yelled at during practice just like I would get yelled at at home,” she says.

BECOMiNGRCfL[BRITY

At the end of her junior year, Alysha had been content to cheer and compete with her high school team until a close friend suggested going all-star again (she had competed for two years with Massachusetts' Bay State All Stars when she was a tween).

"One of the boys who did Bay State told me, 'There's this new team called Celebrity and they just merged and are going to be awesome. They compete against teams like Top Gun.' I was like, Oh my god, Top Gun is so cool. I wouldn't care if I got last place...just to compete against them!'"

Excited about this new possibility, Alysha looked up the requirements to make the large senior coed team and got to work. The biggest challenge was getting her standing back tuck, which Alysha practiced in her yard with the help of her friend Tim, a former gymnast (flC doesn't recommend trying this at home).

"When I got to tryouts, I hadn't landed a standing tuck yet," she says. "I think it was the pressure, but I actually landed it for the first time there. I shocked myself."

After making the team, Alysha's focused mentality didn't fade a bit. "My first impression of Alysha was that she was a caring, fun- loving individual who always gave it her all," says Colleen O'Shea, her coach and co-owner of Celebrity Cheer. "She always managed to achieve things she may have thought were beyond her reach. I knew her talent and motivation would take her far. And after working with her during the year, I realized my first impression of her was true. She's always step up when we needed her, helping her team to achieve tremendous success."

GROWN COLLECTOR

You just may be looking at a future Miss USA. This 2005 Miss Teen Galaxy winner has been involved in the pageantry world for the past seven years and hopes to try for the coveted Miss USA crown after college.

Her victory streak began in 2000 when she won Miss Jr. Teen America and had the chance to participate in the lndy 500 fashion show with Jason Priestly and the mom from "The Brady Bunch," Florence Henderson. That same year, she was named Bellissima Models & Talent Management's Model of the Year.

At 14, she went on to compete at the Miss Rhode Island Teen USA pageant with very low expectations. "People who usually win are 17, so I figured I'd just get my feet wet to see what it was all about and to better prepare for the next year," she says. "I ended up winning. I never expected that I would win at 14 in a competition against 18year-olds!"

She then went on to place seventh at the National Miss Teen USA pageant that took place in South Padre Island, TX. She may not have seized the title, but she was the first gal from Rhode Island to make it to the top 10 in 10 years.

"To be 15 and have an experience like that was definitely incredible," Alysha says. "Everywhere we went, we had police escorts. And when we went to eat, they'd shut the whole place down. It was really cool."

FITNESS FAN

Due to her athletic physique and passion for exercise, Alysha traveled to Orlando with her mom to shoot a pilot for a teen fitness show called, "Go Figure," after winning Miss Teen America in 2004. It was pitched to ABC Family, but unfortunately didn't end up making their lineup.

"[The producers] had me make healthy food that you could snack on and things to do to stay in shape in your everyday life,” she says. “For one of the segments, they actually asked my mom to recruit a guy from Abercrombie & Fitch to be the chef. She found this hot guy with an acting background and brought him back to the studio.”

“It was a really good experience,” Alysha says. “I would definitely do it again.”

COLLEGE BOUNO

This fall, Alysha will be entering her freshman year at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, having turned down a full scholarship to Johnson & Wales University that she scored as part of her prize package for winning Rhode Island Teen America. One of the big deciding factors? I&W doesn’t have a football team.

“I’ve been a cheerleader my whole life,” she says. “To me, it wouldn’t be a college atmosphere without that aspect of it.”

Alysha is planning on trying out for the URI squad this fall, and if she makes it, will be cheering on at least one familiar face: Her boyfriend, Joey, will be playing football for the Rams.

ALYSHA GETTING CROWNED WISS TEEN GALAXy 2005

10 QUESTIONS WITH ALYSHA

1. WHAT’S YOUR MIDDLE NAME? Sandra

2. ANY GOOD LUCK CHARMS? I have a teddy bear that I got from my / Ih grade boyfriend. I take it everywhere.

3. FAVORITE STATE BESIDES YOUR OWN? Tennessee. Especially Nashville. I love country music, and everything about Nashville is so completely awesome. IVe been there a few times for the Miss Teen America program. I also got to go to Memphis and visit Graceland. After that, I became infatuated with Elvis.

4. ARE YOU A GOOGLER? Not really, but I love MySpace.com. It’s addictive!

5. ANY SIBLINGS? One sister, Jennifer, who’s 16 and one brother, |immy, who’s 15. Being the oldest has its advantages.

6. WHAT’S YOUR CELL PHONE RING? Depends on who calls. When my boyfriend calls, it rings Jessica Simpson’s, “Irresistible.” My mom’s ring is Britney Spears’ “Outrageous.”

7. WHAT’S UNDERNEATH YOUR BED? Photo albums and boxes of pictures.

8. DO YOU KEEP A DIARY? (laughs) No, I tell everything to my mom.

9. WHAT HAVE YOU LOST AND WOULD MOST LIKE TO GET BACK? When I was 9, my cat Raisin ran away and I was really upset. I’d really like to know where she went.

10. DO YOU HAVE A REOCCURING DREAM? I always have dreams that my teeth are falling out. When I was watching that cheerleading routine where the girl’s teeth got knocked out (see Squad of the Month in our June 2005 issue), I was like, “Oh my god! That’s my worst nightmare come true!”

“I have totally dedicated this year to cheerleading, making sure I improve on at least one thing each time I go to practice.”

fun fact

FAVE MOVIE= The Notebook

fun fact!

FAVE CELEBRITY ENCOUNTERS= Nick Lachey, Mario Lopez, Chris Kirkpatrick and Vanessa Minnillo

CHEER STATS

SPIRIT EXPERIENCE: Celebrity Cheer Large Senior Coed (i year), Bay State All Stars Junior Coed (2 years), Woonsocket HS varsity (3 years), Woonsocket Redskins (4 years)

HS MASCOT: Villa Novans

SPORTS SHE’S CHEERED FOR: football, basketball and ice hockey

FAVORITE BONDING TIME: camp

AWARDS: All State Cheerleader, Most Valuable Cheerleader, NCA All- America\n

SQUAD VICTORIES: HS: 2004 and ’05 Rl Varsity Coed State Champs, ’04 NECA Cheer Challenge Champs, 2005 New England Cheer Challenge Champs, ’05 Mount St. Charles Invitational Champs. CELEBRITY CHEER: 2005 Athletic Championships Champs; ’05 NCA All-Star Nationals Challenge Cup champs,’O5 US Cheer Champs at Boston, ’05 East Elite Invitational Champs, ’05 COA New England Open Nationals, ’04 WSF East Coast Challenge Champs

fun fact!

MOST PRIZED POSSESSION= collection of more than 500 pins

Copyright Lifestyle Ventures Aug 2005