Plainfield woman needs your vote

By DENISE M. BARAN-UNLAND
The Herald News

PLAINFIELD — Sara Falconer, 20, hopes to make the NFL Indianapolis Colts cheerleader team, but she needs your help to do it.

Part of the criteria for the judges’ final selections on Wednesday is high public response. To cast your vote for Sara, visit www.colts.com and click on “Vote for your Favorite Cheerleader.”

“Voting is only a small part of the audition process,” said Sara’s
mother, Shelley Falconer of Plainfield. “A girl ahead of her in the
votes got cut on Thursday night. But they do want to see if you can get
people excited enough to bring them onto the Web site.”

The final evaluation also includes a 45-minute interview. The final audition is in the form of a runway show on Wednesday.

A senior majoring in dance and physical therapy at Ball State
University in Muncie, Ind., Sara, who loves football, Indianapolis and
dance, learned about the cheerleader tryouts and decided to pursue it.

About 200 candidates attended the first tryout on May 9. Sara is one
of the 45 young women that remain, hoping to be one of the lucky 28 who
will make the 2009-2010 squad.

“She’s danced for 17 years — first at Shirley’s Dance Studio in
Crest Hill and then for 14 years when it became Times III Performing
Arts Academy,” Shelley said. “She really likes performing.

Sara currently dances with a company team at Ball State University.
Previously, she belonged to the Plainfield Junior Cat Poms, as well as
the Cougarette dance team at Plainfield South High School.