Cheerleaders are known for their athletic ability when it comes to tumbling, but Ashlee Arnau, a cheerleader from William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Miss., has added another skill to her resume: a front-flip half court shot.
According to the Associated Press, Arnau made a incredible looking shot at a basketball game for the school on Thursday during halftime that instantly went viral. The cheerleader approached a ball placed at halfcourt with a running start, pulled off a perfect front flip and grabbed the ball while she was still upside down. As she came around she flipped the ball forward towards the basket and made the shot.
"I really don't practice at all," Arnau told the AP in a phone interview.
The 21-year-old is a multi-sport athlete in soccer and track at William Carey, which competes in the NAIA. The cheerleader said that the move was a play on the front flip soccer throw in many athletes use. She said she has attempted the shot a number of times during the season, but it was the first time she hit the shot on the home floor of the school.
Arnau said that she once made the shot at a junior college tournament game, but it bounced in and it wasn't on a fly.
"I didn't count it because I wanted it to go nothing-but-net," she said. "Tonight, I was really blessed it happened."
She said she attempts the shot multiple times during the halftime show and on Thursday she made t on her fifth shot in a game that happened to be the last home contest of the season.
"Everyone was going crazy," said Arnau, a junior from Hattiesburg who said she is studying to be a nurse. "They were cheering my name."
