After a busy school year, Olivia Ovington could be relaxing.
Instead, she’s working even harder.
Ovington is a recent graduate of St. Hubert High School, and during her days as a Bambie, she stayed quite busy.
The Torresdale resident played lacrosse and soccer in high school, and was also a member of the Bambi Ambassador club and she was a painter in the art club, which led her to take AP Art her senior year.
She was always busy. But her top priority, after being a student, was performing on the Bambies cheerleading team.
“I didn’t have a lot of time in high school to do a lot of things, but I love the way it was,” Ovington said. “Cheerleading took up a lot of time, when you cheer for St. Hubert’s, you’re not just doing it for a season, it lasts a long time because we put in so much work. It’s really a year-round thing, you’re always working at it.
“I loved all of my activities. I really loved soccer and lacrosse, I was happy I played those sports, and I loved being an ambassador because I love the school so much. But I think the biggest thing I did was cheerleading. It was great being a part of that team.”
The work is far from over.
While Ovington’s days of cheering in a Bambies uniform are over, she’s still going to be competing in the sport she loves when she heads to James Madison University.
In some ways, it will be just like cheering for Hubert.
Like the Bambies, the Harrisonburg, Virginia-based school is very competitive. The Dukes have a strong cheerleading team and Ovington hopes, like the Bambies, they continue to be among the best teams in the nation.
But unlike at Hubert, the Dukes will cheer for the football and basketball teams, as well as women’s volleyball.
And since she’s a huge sports fan, that suits Ovington just fine.
“The campus is so beautiful, I tell everyone if you get a chance to get out there, do it,” Ovington said. “But it’s everything. I love the people. The cheerleading, obviously, I love the coach and the girls. They were all very welcoming, and excited, and that makes you excited. And it has great academics.
“I love leading a crowd in cheering. I think that’s why I love cheerleading so much. So it will be fun to cheer at games. I love football and basketball. I think it will be so much fun to be at the actual games. They get great crowds.”
And when she gets there, she’s going to be ready to go.
Cheering at the college level is very competitive. Some of the best athletes at the schools are on the cheerleading team, and Ovington knows she has to be ready to rock when she arrives next month.
“For summer we run 3 miles a week and also have our lift schedules,” said Ovington, who is spending her summer living and working in Wildwood. “Monday we do leg day, Tuesday back, it switches throughout the week. I drive off the island to Planet Fitness so it’s not bad. But I’m putting in all the work.
“Cheerleading is a year-round sport. It was the same way at St. Hubert’s. If you want to be good at something, you have to put in the work. So I’m working hard this summer. When I get there, I want to be ready.”
Ovington recently returned home from orientation, where she saw her days packed with learning what she needs to know in the fall.
So it was just like her four years at Hubert.
Downtime was at a premium during her entire high school career, and while it was a lot, it was perfect for her.
“I guess I missed out on a lot of sleep, but I loved everything I did at St. Hubert,” Ovington said. “St. Hubert was really important like family. You get lucky with certain people in your life and you call them family. St. Hubert is like family.
“It was hard but manageable. I never struggled with grades, it was sleep, I never had enough time to sleep and do normal high school things, like go to movies and hang out with friends. But it got me great opportunities, and I was doing exactly what I wanted to do. I loved being there.”
It didn’t just prepare her for cheerleading.
She’s heading into college majoring in biology, minoring in pre-forensics. She hopes she’s able to parlay those into a great career.
“I’ve always been a big fan of science, I loved biology and I wanted to continue studying that,” Ovington said. “Hopefully, I’ll become a forensic attorney. I love science and I love to argue. I’m a big arguer.”
While she couldn’t be more excited about her future, she’ll always remain proud of what she did in high school and will forever be a Bambie.
“I loved cheering there, I loved everything about it,” Ovington said. “I guess the community and people. They loved our cheers. Our alumni comes back. It’s a great community, and I get to be a part of it.
“I work hard. I earned everything from working hard. Nothing is easy. I get that from my parents, they’ve always worked hard. They’re very proud of me, and are great parents. I got a great support system. And they taught me to always give effort because effort gets you places.”
Like James Madison University.
