Hersey's Orange Crush spirit section is getting noticed

There's a buzz going around Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, and it has little to do with the success of their athletic teams.

The excitement stems from the student spirit section, the "Orange Crush," which makes itself heard at games and most recently at their holiday assembly.

"It's impressive and overwhelmingly positive," says Steve Messer, boys head basketball coach and athletic director. "Yes, it affects how we play, but it's bigger than that.

"It has set the tone for the whole school, that's how much they've affected things."

During the current boys and girls basketball season, the Crush takes up an entire section - away games, too - and students dress in theme. At their last home game before the break, they broke out their holiday sweaters.

Senior Martin Diaz and junior Allison Eschbach, both of Mount Prospect, lead their classmates in chants designed to pump up the Hersey players and playfully goad the opposing student section.

The Crush stand for the entire game, and as Diaz says, their goal is "to be louder than the person next to them."

"They're pretty basic chants, but we also sing a lot of songs, changing the lyrics to apply to Hersey," Diaz adds. "It's just loud and fun to watch."

The students work with a panel of teacher moderators, including business teacher Bob Murphy, PE teacher Molly Freeman and social studies teacher Rebecca Vercillo.

"It's all positive energy," Murphy add. "The cool thing is that they work in sync with the band and the cheerleaders, so that everyone's involved."

One of their highlights comes during halftime, when even the cheerleaders take a seat in the bleachers to work under the direction of Diaz.

Standing on the basketball floor, he directs them in the "roller coaster" as they throw up their arms in a choreographed manner and scream as if heading down a steep hill.

Senior Justin Lynk of Arlington Heights takes photos of the Crush for the school newspaper. He talks about the noise level they bring to each game, but it is in the hallways where it surprises him most.

"I walk down the hallways and I hear people humming the chants to themselves as they walk to class," Lynk says. "Of all my four years at Hersey I've never seen such enthusiasm as there is now with Orange Crush."

If it looks spontaneous during games, that belies all the planning going on behind the scenes, Diaz says.

"We meet every week with the moderators," he says. "We have brainstorming sessions and PowerPoint presentations on what we're going to do for different situations."

The Crush began gaining momentum during the fall, when they cheered loudly at every home football game, despite the team winning only one game all season.

"They made it fun to go every game," Messer says.

They began drawing notice from opposing teams during the girls' volleyball season, when the team made a run that took them to the IHSA sectional finals, when they lost to Lake Zurich High School.

During a thrilling match over Fremd to win the Mid Suburban League conference championship, Head Coach Nancy Lill credited the Orange Crush with helping to push the team to come back and win the second game and ultimately the title.

"They were amazing," Lill said after the game.

So amazing, that Hersey has gotten notice for its school spirit outside Arlington Heights.

Last month, they were named the high school with the most spirit by 103.5 KISS FM. The prize is an in-school concert this spring.