Three Cheers: All three Covell sisters cheer together for the first time

Chatting about the latest TikTok cooking trend and pre-football game adrenaline fills the Covell bathroom as three friends curl their hair every Friday night during football season.

Three sisters, that is. 

The Covell sisters’ ritual of preparation for games and bonding on the cheer team is what they’ll miss most when the twins graduate this year.

Seniors and twins Ellie and Lucy Covell are the oldest of the family and have cheered at East since their freshmen year, with spots on varsity since junior year. Their younger sister and sophomore Annabelle Covell joined them on the team this year. 

Though they were hopeful they’d all three get to cheer on the team together someday, it was always up in the air. It’s rare for a sophomore to make Varsity cheer — with only four making the team this year. When Annabelle’s name was right below Ellie and Lucy’s on the varsity roster announcement, the excitement was overwhelming smiles brighter than the sun on their faces.

“It meant a lot to me when she made it because Lucy and I are both going to be gone next year and so that means we get to spend our last year at East with our little sister doing something that we all enjoy,” Ellie said.

Annabelle and the twins took different paths to get involved in cheering. Lucy and Ellie started to cheer in seventh grade at Diamond Cheer, learning all the cheerleading basics like tumbling, jumps and the proper technique to make your arm motions sharp and clean. 

But Annabelle only joined cheer two years ago when she quit competitive gymnastics after five years of the sport. 

“Annabelle had the tumbling part down, but Ellie and Lucy were the main ones there to teach her how to work on moves and the certain ways to move her arms and fist,” the girls’ mom Shari Covell said.

From carpooling to school to family dinners, the Covell sisters have always been close, and cheering together on the sidelines has only strengthened this bond. Now, it’s the rides to practice and games where they bond. It’s stopping to get Starbucks after begging their mom to buy it for them. Perfecting each others’ hair before every football game. Even fighting over who gets the “best” curling iron. 

“I have always gotten ready with just Lucy for the past four years, but I’ve never gotten the chance to get ready with Annabelle and that is just really special for me,” Ellie said.

The time crunch aspect with the sisters going off to college is also forcing a close bond. When Ellie and Lucy go off to college next year, Annabelle will be all alone in the house and on the sidelines.

“I have never been as close to someone as I am to my sisters,” Annabelle said. 

She tries to enjoy every last moment she gets with them before they leave — her favorite being getting to drive to the game with them before every friday night. 

“They always drive me to the games, which normally means we get to get Starbucks if our mom lets us, which I just love getting to go do that with them and be a part of it with them,” Annabelle said. 

Even though this is the twins’ only year cheering with their sister, they hope to leave a positive impact on her and leave her with the knowledge from lesson’s they’ve learned. 

“I know I have spent my high school years stressing a lot and worrying about unneeded things that I shouldn’t be worried about, and I want her to just live high school and enjoy all of the good and bad moments and not worry about all of the little things that happen,” Lucy said.