LTHS alum cheers for Dallas Cowboys

Rachel Rice
Statesman.com
October 3, 2015

Lake Travis High School alum and former Cavalette Simone Culwell is taking her skyward kicks to new heights as a recently minted member of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

Culwell, a 2011 graduate of LTHS, attended the University of Hawaii Manoa and graduated with degrees in anthropology and communications. Culwell said being a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader has held allure to her for a long time.

“I’ve kind of always wanted to be a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader ever since I was a little girl,” Culwell said. “Originally, I did competitive gymnastics, and then I made the Lake Travis Cavalettes my sophomore year of high school. I didn’t get serious about trying out for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders until my junior year of college, when I started training and getting into shape and mentally preparing, studying up on Dallas history and the current players.”

Lake Travis High School alum Simone Culwell performs as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader during a game.

Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are expected to know everything about the team, Culwell said, and she took the requirement seriously. Tryouts for the cheerleading team took place in May, and the initial pool of 350 hopeful girls was cut down to a training camp of 46 and then a final team of 34, Culwell said. Her days as a Cavalette helped her out in a crucial way, she said.

“A lot of girls get cut during the semifinal round if they don’t have good kick technique, and as a Cavalette I learned kick technique,” Culwell said. “I did jump splits on the Cavalette team, so I’m more comfortable with my kick background since I did that back in the day for every single halftime. It’s one less thing I had to worry about.”

Cheerleaders risk hamstring and knee injuries just performing their regular routines, Culwell said.

“Your body is not supposed to be flying in the air and landing in the splits, but we do it anyway,” she said. “My body is aching from the game yesterday – three straight hours of full-out dancing.”

She learned 40 new dances during her time in Dallas Cowboys cheerleader training camp, and faced particular challenges when an old injury returned.

“I had sprained my shoulder and had tendonitis in my rotator cuff, and when I started training camp, it flared up again,” Culwell said. “When I couldn’t even move it, they called me in the office and told me to take it day by day but if it took too long to recover I’d have to be let go from training camp. … It was hard to learn dances and practice, and by the end of training camp, I was getting a little nervous I was falling behind, but I ended up making the team, and what makes that more rewarding is I dealt with a lot of adversity.”

While currently busy with practice, games and other promotional appearances, Culwell hopes to get a public relations job in Dallas. She regularly visits her family in the Village of the Hills, and her parents come out to almost every game to support her, she said.

“One of my favorite things about being a part of this organization is being an influence for young girls,” she said. “The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are world-class women, and I love what we stand for and being an inspiration to everybody.”