The Coupeville High School cheer squad will be under the direction of a new coach, Cheridan Eck, this winter.

Veteran coach Sylvia Arnold is taking some time off for personal reasons but “would like to come back one more time during football season for her son’s senior year and then may retire,” Eck said.

Eck brings a strong background to the program. Besides co-coaching the Coupeville team this fall and helping out some in the past, she was a Seattle Sonic dance team member for six years.

She said, “I have done numerous professional dancing jobs and Broadway musicals growing up as well as TV shows. Singing, dancing and acting is my thing.”

Eck’s goals this year are to integrate more dancing into the Wolves’ routines and to “have some fun while still keeping their love of cheering.”

Eck, who is a fitness instructor, will be adding a strength program to the team’s workouts to teach correct techniques and body alignment. These fundamentals are “extremely useful when dancing and cheering,” she said.

Members of this year’s team are Emily Clay, Caitlyn Connolly, Kirsten Pelroy, Iris Ryckeart, Jovanah Foote, Kylie Burge, Elizabeth Bishop, Sylvia Hurlburt, Elena Jimenez-Guerra, Destiny Bitting, Jessica Painter, Cheyenne Yocham, Therese Lee, Nicole Becker and Darian Emerick.