USU Crying Cheerleader

Orem High Alumni, Ashlyn Whimpey, found her emotions overwhelming her at the end of the USU vs. Mizzou basketball game. Little did she know that her moment of sadness would be broadcasted on national television and lead to it going viral on social media. 

We sat down with her to ask about her experience with the sudden attention, she exclaims, “I’m super overwhelmed by it all, but it’s really cool that so many have shown support for the situation.”

She suddenly found herself in a unique position as her Instagram and TikTok started gaining loads of recognition. Jumping from just about 1,000 followers on Instagram to just over 10,000 in just two days. She started to wonder what she could do with her newfound popularity.

“It would be cool if opportunities on social media came from this, but I’m still planning on pursuing my dream of becoming a pediatric nurse.”

Whimpey was cheer captain and ODC president at OHS and was used to being in the spotlight at times, but her spotlight had been on a much smaller scale. She has been on the USU spirit squad for three years and is currently planning on going to nursing school. This sudden influx of attention has caught her off guard and it will be exciting to see what she does with it.