Coupeville Sports

Coupeville grad Mica Shipley made her debut as an NCAA D-I college cheerleader Saturday afternoon. (Photos courtesy Shipley)

Shipley (front row, far left) with her EWU squad.

She was born for this.

Mica Shipley has been a cheerleader most of her life, winning awards and soaring high into the air.

Now, the 2020 Coupeville High School grad has reached a new level of achievement, performing for an NCAA D-I school.

After being denied a chance to perform by the pandemic, the cheer squad at Eastern Washington University finally got to go live Saturday at the regular season home finale in Cheney.

Shipley and her teammates worked the sidelines as the Eagles beat the University of Idaho 38-31.

The victory avenged an earlier loss to the Vandals, and lifts EWU to 5-1 on the season.

While she didn’t get to fly Saturday, Shipley was just thrilled with the chance to achieve at least a part of her college cheer dream.

“No stunting, but I’m glad to be out there!,” she said.

During her days at CHS, Shipley was a cheer captain for the Wolves, helping lead the program’s return to competition after nearly a decade away from the blue mats.

During her junior season, Coupeville qualified for state in its first attempt in eight years, then claimed third-place at the big dance.

The next season, Shipley and fellow captain Ashleigh Battaglia led the Wolves to nationals.

The cheer supernova, who first made headlines when she earned her way onto all-star teams at age six, also modeled for Glitter Starz.

That Illinois-based company is a national leader in custom all-star uniforms, warm-ups, and other cheer essentials.

Shipley, who is one of two Wolf athletes at D-I schools (with classmate Sean Toomey-Stout competing for a spot with the University of Washington football team) is studying nursing, with plans to become an OBGYN.