DANVERS — Tanya Croteau hails from Oniontown, graduated from Danvers High and has cheered the New England Patriots to victory for three seasons.
Some readers may have noticed Croteau, 27, pictured on the front page of The Salem News yesterday cheering alongside Danielle Lannon, 20, of Swampscott, as the latter woman was featured in a story about her first year as a cheerleader.
Lannon, who spoke with a reporter earlier in the week as she headed out to Arizona, said yesterday Croteau has also made the trip to cheer for the Patriots as they take on the New York Giants at the University of Phoenix Stadium in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Lannon, who is in her first season with the squad, could not say more because she was heading into practice last night. Croteau could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Croteau grew up in Boxford before moving to Danvers when she was in eighth grade, according to news reports online. According to Croteau's biography on Patriots.com, she is a graduate of Suffolk University who majored in business management and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration.
She works as an office manager for a financial advising firm in Danvers and as a dance instructor. Her community service has included volunteer stints with the Special Olympics, the Red Auerbach Youth Foundation, Walk for Cancer and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Croteau has also been dancing for 21 years, and she is trained in hip-hop, tap, ballet and jazz. She's even performed during halftime and timeouts at Boston Celtics games as a member of the Phunk Phenomenon Urban Dance Theater.
Her hobbies include "shopping, traveling, dancing, working out, spending time with friends and family, and going to the beach." She and five other Patriots cheerleaders spent two weeks performing dance routines and signing autographs for troops in Afghanistan, Germany, Iraq and Turkey as part of an Operation Seasons Greetings tour, according to the Suffolk University Web site.
Her dream job is to be an actress or a reporter, and she aims to earn her Master of Business Administration degree.
The North Shore is well-represented on the squad with Angela Lavoie of Middleton, a graduate of Masconomet Regional High, also cheering on the Patriots.
Staff writer Alan Burke contributed to this report.
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