Madesyn Samples has been appointed head coach of the Linfield cheerleading program, director of athletics Dr. Garry Killgore announced on Thursday. She takes over for Gina Regalado, who guided the cheer program on an interim basis after the departure of Carissa Collins in September. Regalado will continue to serve as head coach of the Linfield Dance program.
 
"We are very excited to have Madesyn Samples joining our Athletics staff as our head cheer coach," said Killgore. "She has a fantastic background in cheer and we look forward to her enthusiastic leadership."
 
Samples began as a competitive cheerleader since the age of 4 and was coaching youth cheerleaders by the time she was 15. Her experience includes time spent as both a coach and an athlete with Champion Cheer Athletics in Salem, one of the longest-running and most successful cheer programs in Oregon.
 
"I have been in the cheer world for 20 years and I don't think I have ever been this excited about coaching," said Samples. "Linfield cheer has so much potential and I cannot wait to tap into that. I cheered and coached at Oregon State University, so I cannot wait to bring my experience to Linfield Cheer."
 
As Samples noted, she is a recent graduate of Oregon State University where she was a four-year member of the OSU cheer team. She served as the Beavers team captain and was selected to receive the Best Female Base award. Samples graduated with a bachelor's degree in molecular biology and biochemistry from OSU in May 2022.
 
A resident of Salem, Samples was a three-year member of the McNary High School cheer squad, serving as team captain, dance choreographer and cheer motion creator.
 
Samples takes over leadership of a growing and vibrant cheer program at Linfield. Twenty-one student-athletes participated in the Linfield cheer program during the 2022-23 academic year. In January 2022, Linfield competed at the College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship event in Orlando, Florida. The cheer squad placed ninth in the Small Co-Ed Division, which included seven NCAA Division I institutions.