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Lincoln ? Nebraska cheerleader Anne Marie Rye will represent the Huskers and the Big 12 Conference in the final round of this year’s Athlon Sports Sideline Spirit contest. Voting for the final round begins on Saturday, Dec. 1 at midnight and will run through 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 21. No registration is necessary to vote and there is no limit to the number of times a person can vote.
The Athlon Sports Sideline Spirit Contest is entering its fifth year and is one of the most popular programs on our website. This year’s sponsor, JVC, adds broad national exposure and promotion for this competition. Contestants were chosen from across the country to participate in the contest, which began with the kickoff of the college football season in September.
The contest was divided into four rounds, featuring seven cheerleaders or dancers in each round (one from each BCS conference and one non-BCS representative).
Rye, a Lincoln native, earned nearly 150,000 votes to win the second round of the contest. Voting for the second round ended on Oct. 13, and Husker fans pushed Rye into the finals by more than 27,000 votes ahead of second-place Taylor Nix from Florida State.
Rye automatically advanced to the championship round by receiving the most votes in the second round. The winner of the championship round wins the overall contest.
Rye, a junior communications major from Lincoln, will try to become the second Husker to win the Athlon Sideline Spirit Contest. In 2004, former Husker Cheer Squad member Chelsea Kimmerling captured the honor. The nursing major from Beatrice, Neb., received more than 95,000 votes, nearly 36,000 votes ahead of the runner-up from North Carolina State.
The 2007 Athlon Sports Sideline Spirit Contest winner will be featured in the 2008 Athlon Sports College Football annuals and her school's spirit squad will receive $1,000, plus 2 JVC Camcorders, a 42-inch LCD JVC TV and a JVC Portable Kaboom Box.
For more information and to place your vote, visit www.athlonsports.com/spirit.