EPCHS Alum In The Spotlight: Phil Hill, Class Of 2017

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Phil Hill was a multi-sport star during his time as a student at Evergreen Park Community High School, competing in basketball, football, baseball, soccer and track & field as a Mustang.

But it was not until the beginning of his senior year when he found the sport that he’d go on to achieve the most success.

“Cheerleading was one of the physically and mentally demanding sports that pushes you in ways that some sports can’t,” said Hill, a 2017 EPCHS alum. “But it’s a good push. It builds character, responsibility and a family bond within the team.”

Hill remembers being versatile and “flipping off things” while growing up. When he first got to EPCHS, he heard about the cheerleading team but since no boys were involved, he didn’t join the team right away.

“All my friends played basketball, so I just naturally wanted to be with my friends,” he said.

When his senior year rolled around, Hill was ready to try something new.

“I remembered I loved to flip and had some backyard tumbling experience, so I tried out for the cheer team,” he said. “I made the cheer team, and I was surprised. One thing about me is that I'm not going to start something I can't finish… Little did I know I would be making one of the best decisions of my life.”

Less than a decade after that decision, Hill is a four-time national champion cheerleader. He recently was part of a Lindenwood University team that won the D2 Large Coed NCA National Championship. Hill was previously a member of three other Lindenwood University national champion cheer teams.

Hill has been involved in cheerleading ever since his senior year of high school.

“I discovered All-Star cheer, so that is where I spent 2 years just improving myself as an athlete, getting more skills and perfecting the ones I have,” he said. “I then wanted to go back to school and cheer collegiately and that is when I found Lindenwood University.”

Although his first year at Lindenwood was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic, Hill won his first national title in 2020 at the Small Coed D2 level. He then won three consecutive titles in the Large Coed D2 division.

“While also doing all this I became an NCA Staffer and worked with cheerleaders all across the country teaching them how to properly and safely perform all those amazing stunts and tumbling you all see at games and competitions,” he added.

All this success stemmed from his experience with EP Cheer and Head Coach Rachael Mayo, who remains at the helm of the program today.

“Coach Mayo was, has been, and always will be a great influence on EP Cheer,” Hill said. “She did something that takes a lot of patience by allowing us boys on the cheer team. It's a lot with just the girls, imagine adding the boys. I commend and thank her for her patience with all of us because I know we are probably to blame for a gray hair or two.

“One thing I will say is that she impacted me greatly as a person more than an athlete when it came to cheering. I felt like she taught me how to be a better person through cheer, the importance of first impressions, pursuing and keeping connections made for future purposes, and just overall better people skills. She has been with me since the beginning of my cheer career, and she still checks in on me now, so she is always a good influence sticking with her athletes even after we leave.”

It’s that experience with EP Cheer that “shaped me into the athlete I am today,” Hill said.

“Cheer is like a team full of brothers and sisters and coaches are like parents so that also makes this sport so special because we rely on each other heavily,” he said. “In a routine, we only get 2 minutes and 30 seconds to show a panel of judges what we work for and why we put countless hours and 8 counts of cheerleading in our brain practicing to never get it wrong so we can Hit 0, but to make that happen it takes each individual to believe in each other that we are all going to collectively do our job and put on a show. EP cheer showed me that it gave me that family feeling in that when I would mess up, I felt as if I let them down, but they were my biggest supporters in picking me back up.”

Hill recently graduated college with a B.A. in K-12 Special Education and plans to pursue a master’s degree in Applied Behavioral Analysis.