Todd Rose | Daily Press Gladstone’s Keeley Angsten (front, center) sits with mother Shara Lueneburg (front, left) and stepfather Jeff Lueneburg (front, right) as well as her new Olivet College coach Lisa Ash (back, left) and her Gladstone coach Stacie Kitson (back, right) after signing her letter of intent Friday afternoon in Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — Gladstone’s Keeley Angsten will be taking her talents to Olivet College next fall as she signed her letter of intent to join the Olivet Competitive Cheer/Stunt Team Friday afternoon in the Gladstone High School library.

Angsten shared her happiness — and touch of nervousness — following her signing.

“I am so excited,” commented Angsten. “I’m a little scared to go off to college because I’m going to be six hours away from home, but I’m definitely excited for the new experience.”

The decision to attend Olivet College became clear to Angsten upon a visit to the school’s campus downstate in Olivet.

“I loved the environment there,” she said. “The girl who walked us around, she loved being there and it made me want to go there as well. There are so many things she told me I could do on campus with meeting new people. She said people sit out with hammocks, and they have movie nights and a pool. It all just sounded like so much fun.”

Angsten hopes to major in psychology at Olivet, a decision spurred by her love of helping others.

“I like to help people, and I feel like I can do that further through psychology,” she said.

While the school and its campus are both things that excite Angsten about her next steps, she is most excited about the chance to continue cheer.

Competitively, Angsten has been participating in cheer since seventh grade. However, her love of the sport began years prior to that.

“Before that, there was Firecrackers,” she said. “That’s where I truly found my love for cheer, which was around third grade.”

Angsten noted her thanks for those that have been alongside her on her journey, especially for someone who has been there since the very start.

“(I want to thank) my mom for sure,” she said. “She is my biggest supporter. And the rest of my family, I just want to thank them for supporting me through the whole thing.”

While the Braves cheer program is sad to see Angsten leave, they are excited to see what she accomplishes in the next leg of her journey at Olivet, said coach Stacie Kitson.

“I am extremely proud of her,” Kitson said. “She is an amazing athlete. We are really sad to see her go. … I wish I could keep her, but such is life. She is a phenomenal girl, a wonderful athlete and she is going to bring great things to that team. They are very lucky to have her.”

Olivet cheer coach Lisa Ash — who made the six-hour trip to attend the festivities Friday — described how excited she is to have Angsten joining the program.

“We’re really excited to have her,” Ash said. “She has a lot of skills that we are looking to add to our team. Plus, she is, obviously, very determined. We’re really excited to have her joining us next year. Keeley is going to be a game changer for us.”