Fort Thomas Independent Schools held a vigil for Lilliana on Sunday night at the Highland Middle School's gym, WDRB reported. Lilliana was a flyer on her squad, her father, Dan Schalck, told WCPO Monday night. At just 4 feet, 10 inches tall and 80 pounds, she was an ideal size for being tossed in the air and standing atop human pyramids during routines. "Lilliana is exactly what we want a Highlands student-athlete to be," Kevin Nieporte, the athletic director at Highlands High School, told WLWT. "She's kind and nice to everyone and super athletic and a fine student. An excellent representative for Highlands High School and Highlands Middle School Cheer." "Everybody liked her," Schalck told WCPO. "She was supportive on the mat. Doing her thing, she was fierce, but when it comes to anyone else, she was very supportive." Lilliana's coach, Rosalind Schmidt, told WKRC the whole team is devastated. “She was pretty on the inside and beautiful on the inside, and we want to keep paying remembrance to her and how much joy she brought to people in this gym," Schmidt told the television station.<doc-sep>A 13-year-old cheerleader at a Kentucky middle school died suddenly after getting sick just before a competition on Saturday, district officials said. Lilliana Schalck, an eighth-grader at Highlands Middle School in Fort Thomas, died at a hospital after becoming ill as she prepared to compete at an event in Columbus, Ohio, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Kevin Nieporte, the school’s athletic director, said Lilliana’s health quickly deteriorated once at the hospital, but it wasn’t immediately clear what caused her death, according to the newspaper. “One of our most talented cheerleaders,” Nieporte said of the teen, adding that she competed with the high school’s varsity athletes despite being in eighth grade. “She was the nicest.” Fort Thomas Independent Schools Superintendent Karen Cheser notified parents of Lilliana’s death in a tweet on Sunday. “It is with such sadness that I inform you that we have lost an eighth-grade student,” Cheser wrote. “She is beloved by so many and we know our students will need help through the grieving process.” Counselors will be available to grieving students throughout the week, Cheser said. Lilliana was attending a competition on Saturday with teammates from Premier Athletics of Northern Kentucky, which trains cheerleading, dance and gymnastics teams, according to its website. “Our hearts are completely broken for the Schalck family,” the facility wrote on its Facebook page. Hundreds of mourners held a private vigil at Highland Middle School on Sunday to honor Lilliana’s life, with varsity cheerleaders dropping blue spider mums at the base of a photograph of Lilliana in her uniform, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. “One of our sayings here is caring for yourself, each other and this place,” Principal Michael Howton told the crowd. “It’s really a time to put your arm around somebody and show some support and just provide that shoulder to lean on if needed.” Howton said Lilliana’s death has rocked the tight-knit community. “I think we’re all processing it,” Howton told WCPO. “Even adults struggle with how to feel and how to react to it, so it’s a one-day-at-a-time approach.” Howton said it’s important for youngsters to realize that the grieving process is entirely natural. “I think that’s the message we want to send kids,” he continued. “It’s all right to have that moment of sadness and recognize that you miss your friend, you miss this person that was in our halls every day.” Howton told WKRC that Lilliana was interested in journalism and frequently wrote about sports. She was also often the first athlete to arrive at cheerleading practice — and was quick to greet teammates, he said. “She said they didn’t know what they are going to do now that she won’t be there,” Howton said, recalling what another student told him. “My suggestion is do what she did, be that first person there and show that support to others.” Howton continued: “This is one of those times where we say, ‘Look to your left and right and put your hand and arm around that person and give them support over these few days, next few weeks’ because that’s the way we are going to heal and move forward.”<doc-sep>A Kentucky community is mourning the sudden death of an eighth-grade student who complained of feeling ill while at a cheerleading competition in Ohio on Saturday. Lilliana Schalck, a student at Highlands Middle School in Fort Thomas, was taken from the event to a nearby hospital by her father, but her condition quickly deteriorated and she later died, according to the school’s athletic director. MISSOURI BOY CREDITS 'BLACK PANTHER' AND JESUS FOR SAVING HIS LIFE AFTER HE WAS IMPALED BY A SKEWER Schalck was an active cheerleader on both her school’s team and with Premier Athletics NKY, the team she was competing with before the tragedy. The event’s organizers held a moment of silence for her when the news spread, WCPO reported. Several vigils in the cheer community as well as within the Fort Thomas School District have been held in her honor, with many athletes donning blue hearts in a show of support. A tweet and Facebook post sent out to parents and students by the school’s superintendent did not reveal what the teen’s cause of death was, but described her as “beloved by so many.” TEEN'S FOOT ATTACHED BACKWARD AFTER CANCER SURGERY “Tonight one of the kids during our vigil was saying how Lilliana was one of the first people in the lobby, greeting people,” Michael Howton, the teen’s principal told Fox 19. “She didn’t know what they’d do without her. I said do what she did — be there and show that support to others.” Howton told another news outlet that he wanted students to know that it’s “alright to grieve.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I think that’s the message we want to send kids,” he told WCPO. “It’s alright to have that moment of sadness and recognize that you miss your friend, you miss this person that was in our halls every day.” The school said counselors would be available for students this week.<doc-sep>
Lilliana Schalck, 13, was rushed to the emergency room after falling ill at a competition Thirteen-year-old Kentucky middle school student Lilliana Schalck died suddenly of a strep infection, the coroner told WLWT5. Schalck was attending an event with her cheerleading team in Columbus, Ohio when she was rushed to the emergency room by her father after complaining of pelvic pain and a numb hand, Fort Thomas Independent Schools Athletic Director Kevin Nieporte told FOX 19. Her death was confirmed by the school district’s superintendent Karen Cheser in a statement posted to social media. “It is with such sadness that I inform you that we have lost an eighth-grade student. Lilliana Schalck passed away suddenly yesterday,” the statement read. “She is beloved by so many and we know our students will need help through the grieving process.” Cheser said that Highlands Middle School would host a vigil for students, and that grieving classmates would have school counselors available to them for support. Though she was a student at Highlands, Schalck was a member of the local high school’s cheerleading team, middle school principal Michael Howton told WCPO Cincinnati. “I think we’re all processing it. Even adults struggle with how to feel and how to react to it. So it’s a one day at a time approach,” he told the outlet. Schalck also cheered with Premier Athletics, which reportedly observed a moment of silence in her honor. “Our hearts are completely broken for the Schalck family. We want to take the time to honor Lilliana and pray with our friends and family here in (Northern Kentucky),” the cheer, dance, stunting and tumbling company wrote on Facebook.