On November 8, Sienna Johnson signed her National Letter of Intent to join the Acro & Tumbling program at Duquesne University in Pennsylvania.
She was a gymnast for 10 years before quitting to join Linganore’s cheerleading team, which she participated in for all four years of high school.
“I have grown a lot from my experiences doing cheer for Linganore and am super glad I chose to join the team as a freshman,” Johnson said.
Now, Johnson will be moving on to Acro, which is a sport she’s never done before, but is a combination of both her gymnastics and cheerleading passions.
While Johnson does feel nervous about playing at a higher level and the stress of keeping up her grades, it has always been her dream to get a scholarship and play at the collegiate level.
“This is honestly just living out that dream!” said Johnson.
Johnson had over a dozen other scholarships to different schools, but ultimately, Duquesne kept her attention for multiple reasons.
“I chose Duquesne over the other schools because I felt like I fit in well,” said Johnson. “I had met the coach for the Acro team and really liked talking to her.”
Johnson shared that she had a number of people who supported her cheer career in high school, but she is “massively grateful” to both of her parents.
Johson’s mother, Erica Johnson, is proud of what her daughter has accomplished.
“I think that Sienna has been a tough athlete her whole life … she really had such a high standard for herself,” said Erica Johnson. “I could not be more proud about the decisions she’s made that let her get into a D1 school.”
Varsity cheer coach Amy Rumberg has watched Johnson improve throughout her time at Linganore. During her speech at the Signing Day event, she did not hesitate to praise Johnson’s work ethic.
“She’s dedicated to her sport and the improvement of her sport,” Rumberg said. “She’s never satisfied with just doing it. She wants to be the best; she doesn’t want to just be good at what she does.”
Johnson plans on studying occupational therapy in the pediatric field at Duquesne.
“I am not exactly sure what I want to do when I graduate,” said Johnson. “I know I want to do something with kids.”
Johnson will start at Duquesne next fall and is excited to take the first step into the rest of her athletic and academic journey.
