Dunfee set to cheer for Limestone
When it comes to cheerleading, qualities like athleticism, strength, positivity, persistence and confidence are highly prized, especially when colleges squads are looking for new recruits to replenish their ranks.
Abbey Dunfee will undoubtedly bring all of that to the next level, but it’s another element — versatility — that Gordon Lee head cheer coach Kelley Whitman said is one of the best qualities about the senior, who signed on to continue her career at Limestone College on Thursday.
“Limestone is the luckiest place in the world because they are getting the best of the best,” Whitman beamed. “She’s an amazing student, she’s an amazing athlete and not very many cheerleaders can say, at this
point, they’ve won state three times at three different positions on the mat. That just doesn’t happen. Whatever (Limestone) needs her to do, she can do.”
“I’m excited to go and branch out and be able to experience all of this, but I’m also really nervous because it means I have to go far away,” the softspoken Dunfee said about her future home in Gaffney, South Carolina, some five hours from home. “But it will also give me a chance to be more independent.”
Dunfee said she chose Limestone, an NCAA Division II school, for a number of reasons.
“It’s a smaller school and I think I’ll do better at a smaller school,” she explained. “The teachers there actually care if you’re in class or not. They’ll send emails (to check on you) and things like that. Plus, their cheer team is really growing too.”
The Saints have qualified for NCA Nationals in Daytona Beach every year since 2016 and had their highestever finish in April 2019 with a fourth-place showing in the Small Coed Division II category.
In August 2019, they had two athletes named All-American and the squad earned its first-ever Gold Bid to Nationals. However, the April 2020 competition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
A well-rounded studentathlete, Dunfee is also a member of the GLHS track team and helped the Lady Trojans win a state championship in 2019. She is a member of the school’s Key Club, National Honor Society and yearbook staff and in the top 10 of her class academically, in addition to being a volunteer at several school-related events.
She has already been named as an All-State (Class 1A-4A) cheerleader this season and is one of the finalists for the Georgia Cheerleader Coaches’ Association’s Cheerleader of the Year Award. That award
will be announced at the state finals next month where Dunfee hopes to help Gordon Lee win a fifth straight state title in its classification.
“She excels at everything,” Whitman continued. “Whether it’s tumbling or stunting or jumps, she’s just the best in every category.”
Whitman said the Saints are also getting someone whose actions speak volumes.
“She’s quiet, but she doesn’t need to say much because her actions do all the talking,” the coach said. “If you want to know if you should be going hard at practice, just look at Abbey. Everyone always jokes that she never gets tired. It’s not that she’s not tired, it’s that she never stops until it’s perfect.”
Dunfee said she plans to major in biology with a dream of one day becoming a marine biologist and added that she will miss her time as a Gordon Lee cheerleader.
“They’ve always supported me here,” she added. “This has been like a family to me, but hopefully I can make a new family (at Limestone).”