Published: March 21, 2008 09:04 am         

Spreading the Mount's good cheer

In the past two weeks, her itinerary has taken Jonelle Mooney from Emmitsburg to Moon Township, Pa., to Long Island, N.Y., to Fairfield, Conn., to Dayton, Ohio, to Towson for the funeral of a friend, and now to Raleigh, N.C.; not to mention countless of other places across the country in the four years previous.

Life isn't easy on the road, particularly when you're balancing your rock-star travel schedule around earning a four-year degree in a double major in Business and Sports Management, along with a minor in Marketing. But this road, which began in Cumberland, is the road Jonelle Mooney chose to take as a student and the captain of the cheerleading squad at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg.

Jonelle is a 2004 graduate of Fort Hill High School, where she ran track, played basketball and cheered for the Sentinels. She loves playing sports as much as she loves cheering them, and, oh yes, that would be all sports.

"I'm sure everyone thinks, 'Oh, she is a cheerleader, so she doesn't know anything,' " Jonelle said Wednesday evening. "But I grew up playing basketball and, hello? It is Cumberland. I grew up playing football, too.

"I talk to people all the time about competition and how that competitive drive gets in your blood when you grow up in an area like we do. Not everyone has that. It's just unique."

Unique would be the word to best describe the state of the Mount right now. On one hand, the entire Frederick County school is wired beyond belief as its men's basketball is playing in the NCAA tournament, taking on North Carolina, the top-seeded team in the country, tonight, 7 o'clock, at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.

On the other hand, students and staff at Mount St. Mary's are still mourning a friend, 22-year-old Dustin Bauer, a member of the Mountaineers track team and an avid supporter of the basketball teams, who died last week from a fall on campus. Bauer, who was a prominent member of the "Mount Maniacs," the basketball team's student support group, lived in Jonelle's apartment complex.

"The night we won the Northeast Conference championship (with a win over Sacred Heart)," Jonelle said, "the trophy was presented to us and before we knew it the team was cutting down the nets. It came time for Coach Milan Brown to do the last cut, and just what does he do? He leaves one piece hanging in memorial for Dustin.

"It was that night when Dustin passed away ... My emotions have never been so crazy. It was the happiest moment and the saddest at the same time."

It has been the best of times and the worst of times at Mount St. Mary's. At a time that should have been the happiest of any student's life, students at the Mount had to bury a classmate and friend. Bauer's funeral was on St. Patrick's Day, which, according to Jonelle, "was fitting for Dustin. St. Patrick's Day would have been his choice of holiday, a day we celebrated his life."

But there is no rest for the weary as the next day the Mount St. Mary's contingent found itself in Dayton to play Coppin State in the NCAA tournament play-in game, a game many critics believe shouldn't even be part of the national tournament.

"We watched ESPN," Jonelle said. "We know how people feel about the (play-in) game. But to us it was important. Not only did we want the win but we want people to know who Mount St. Mary's is ... and that's what we did."

And that's what they did, defeating Coppin State, 69-60, and earning the right to play the best team in the country in its own backyard.

"I'm not going to lie. The first half had me worried," Jonelle said. "Coppin State was making everything ... I mean everything. But we had a huge second half.

"I got black tape for my team to wear on their arms at that game and I wore a black sweatband with the number 13 on it, Dustin's favorite number. We beat Sacred Heart by 13 and against Coppin State, Chris Vann, a close friend of Dustin's, too, had 13 points. Tell me we don't have an angel watching over us.

"The fans in Dayton chanted Dustin's name near the end of the game. This kid was important to everyone at the Mount and he will always stay in our hearts."

And he will undoubtedly be with the Mount in spirit tonight when the Mountaineers face the Tar Heels.

"It's a big step for our school, obviously," Jonelle said. "It's putting us on the map.

"The guys are holding up well. If they keep their composure, we'll do well, and I think we should stick with Carolina."

As a member of a family whose crest reads, "We've hated Carolina longer, we just hate Duke more," I can only say, "From Jonelle Mooney's lips to God's ear."

Having already been part of the NCAA tournament on Tuesday, Jonelle said of the feelings she and her teammates experienced, "You can't even explain it. Seeing everybody excited ... It was a packed house ... 8,000 people. Not an empty seat in the house.

"(Dayton) was the biggest arena we've ever cheered in. Of course, our rival game with Loyola is always a sold-out crowd. But the Sacred Heart game was a big game. We won there and it was huge, and if we keep winning, the stadiums, the arenas and the games keep getting bigger and bigger."

And as for tonight's game?

"I can't imagine what it's going to be like to step out on that floor," Jonelle said. "It'll be a rush.

"I'm hoping we can stick with them. We've been told we're starting out down by three touchdowns (the Tar Heels are 25-point favorites). As long as we stick with them, I'll be happy. I hope we win the game, but we got this far. It's big for our team and for our school."

Once the basketball dust is settled, it's back to the task at hand, and Jonelle, the only senior on the cheerleading squad and captain for the past two years, will graduate from the Mount on May 11.

"My family and friends in Cumberland, particularly my mom, my dad and my brother have supported me from the beginning," she said. "I love them and thank them all so much.

"It's been a great four years cheering here. My senior year has been amazing. I've had great teammates. It's going to be hard to leave them, but this is the best possible way to go out."

There could be a better way.

"At this point I am so excited to graduate from Mount St. Mary's," Jonelle said. "It is our bicentennial year and what better way to go out of my cheerleading career than being on the floor, supporting my team at a game where we play a number-one seed in the NCAA?

"Tell everybody at home to make sure they watch the game at 7:10. We will have our yellow ribbons in and our black bands on to support our friend and cheer our boys on to a victory."

From her lips to God's ear.

Contact Mike Burke at mburke@times-news.com.