Spirit spotlight

LARAMIE — Each week, 7220sports.com photographer, DJ Johnson, highlights a member of the University of Wyoming Spirit squad.

This week …

Nicole Farner
Brighton, Colo.,
Sophomore
Business Marketing/Agriculture

Q: What is your favorite part of being a member of the University of Wyoming’s Spirit Squad?
A: Cheering at all the games is a ton of fun, but my favorite thing that I’ve got to do since I started cheering was traveling to New Mexico last year to cheer at the football game. Being on the team affords you so many incredible opportunities and one of the best ones is the opportunity to travel. We really are given the opportunity to meet so many different people and up to this point traveling to New Mexico has been my favorite moment.

Q: Having grown up in Colorado, you’re pretty familiar with bigger towns. Brighton is quite a bit bigger than Laramie, so what is one thing you absolutely love about living in Laramie?
A: I grew up near Brighton and actually come from a smaller town right outside of Brighton. It’s out in the country, and really has that western vibe, so when I got to Laramie, I really felt at home…everyone here is cowboy and country. I like that everyone knows everyone and it’s amazing to be around, because that’s how I grew up, and how I was raised, and I definitely feel like I fit in here.

Q: The Spirit Squad supports a lot of different sports for the University of Wyoming, and I know they’re all important; however, if you had to pick one sport as your favorite, what would it be?
A: I would have to choose football, because of the crowd. The crowd really gets into the games, and since we are cheerleaders, the crowd really gets behind us and they want us to be there to get them excited. We’re really valued at those games and we love when the crowd gets so involved---it’s awesome to have everyone get so involved with us and we feel that we’re making a huge difference in the stadium, and it’s just super-amazing to see the rivalry games, especially like the one this weekend when we play Colorado State.

Q: If there’s one thing that people my find surprising about you, what would it be?
A: Well, I grew up on an 80-acre buffalo ranch, with about 60-70 head of buffalo, so I’ve always grown up in an agriculture-based lifestyle, living a very country lifestyle. Being a cheerleader, a lot of people don’t associate the country upbringing with cheering…so that’s what I’d say that a lot of people might not know about me.

Q: If you could go to dinner with any celebrity or athlete, living or dead, who would it be and why?
A: I would for sure have to pick Granger Smith, because he’s my favorite country singer and he’s such a genuinely good person. I feel that I could get a lot of life lessons out of him, and learn a lot about different parts of life from him. So yeah, Granger!

Q: If I were to give you two plane tickets anywhere in the world, where would you go and who would you take?
A: I would definitely take my mom and we would go to Florence, Italy. I would take my mom because she’s one of the most important people to me, and we’d go to Florence because I’ve always wanted to go there since I was a little kid.

Q: So, since you’re a country music fan, do you sing karaoke, and if so, what is your go to song?
A: Ummmmmm…do I sing karaoke? Yeah, I do, but I’m not really good at it though. But if I had to sing, I for sure would sing Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus!

My favorite food is sushi
My favorite professional athlete is Peyton Manning
My favorite animal is a horse
My favorite TV show is anything with Gordon Ramsey in it
My favorite quote is “Everything happens for a reason.”
My favorite thing to wear is cowboy boots
My favorite hobby is riding horses
The one thing I can’t live without is my faith in God
Do you know how to ride a horse? Yes
Do you know who Chancey Williams is? Oh hell yeah, I know who Chancey Williams is (with lots of laughter)