Come fall, LBWCC’s Caitlin Pearce will be cheering “Yea Alabama” from the sidelines.

“There were about 60 girls who tried out and only 18 girls made it,” Pearce, who recently earned a spot on the university cheerleading squad said. “There are nine on crimson and nine on white.”

Pearce said the white squad, which is the team she made, is more like the junior varsity team.

The squad cheers at all home football games, girls’ basketball games, gymnastics meets and volleyball games.

Becoming an Alabama cheerleader is something Pearce said she never expected to do.

“I guess I doubted myself,” she said.

But Pearce made it through the first three cuts and to the final tryout, where she surprised herself by making the final cut.

“I love to cheer,” she said. “I’m really excited. I cheered in seventh through 12th grade, and I have been on the Universal Cheerleader Association staff for three years.”

Pearce said she’s been associated with cheerleading since she was 5 years old, when her mother coached high school cheerleading.

Making the Crimson Tide cheering squad is one of the biggest accomplishments of her life, she said.

“Trying out for Alabama isn’t a joke,” she said. “Everyone is awesome and there is a lot of competition. It’s truly a big accomplishment. We will have our first practice in May and they will continue through the summer.”

Pearce said she knows some of the cheerleaders from UCA, where she helps with the summer cheerleading camps and was named UCA Rookie of the Year last year.

She said she’s looking forward to running through the tunnel at Bryant-Denny.

“I’ve been picturing myself running through the tunnel,” she said. “I’m really excited about that.”

And what might become a fun-filled rivalry is that one of her best friends from UCA also made cheerleader at Auburn.

Pearce will transfer to UA in the fall to study elementary education.