Meet the Rushettes

Teresa Rathbun

Teresa Rathbun-Gonzalez is excited to be back for her second year as the Rushette’s coach and choreographer. She grew up in the Black Hills and attended Saint Thomas More High School. Teresa was a member of STM’s State AA Championship Cheerleading Squad and captain of the dance team.

She earned a joint degree in Music and Political Science, as well as a minor in Mass Communications from the University of South Dakota. She was actively involved in campus life as a Resident Assistant, crowned Miss University of South Dakota in 2002, and continuously engaged in various Community Service Projects.

Teresa moved back to Rapid City and found a passion for combining dance and fitness—this led to the opening of her own studio. She has explored and studied several styles of dance including ballroom, Latin, belly dance, bhangra, swing, aerial, modern, hip hop, hula, ballet, and jazz. Teresa has taken dance from local studios such as Kisa Dance and Barefoot Dance Studio. In addition, she travels several times a year to take workshops and master classes with international dancers and choreographers. As an instructor and a coach, Teresa is always bringing new dance styles to the Black Hills area.

Autumn Trescott

Autumn grew up all over the country, but has been happy to call the Black Hills home for the past 12 years. She graduated from Sturgis High School in 2006, where she participated on the Black Magic dance team and varsity cheerleading. Autumn is pursuing a Computer Aided Drafting degree from Western Dakota Tech. Upon graduation in May, she hopes to find a job in Aircraft Design. She also currently serves as a Black Hawk helicopter mechanic in the U.S. military and is a member of the South Dakota Army National Guard.

Autumn has one young daughter with whom she enjoys spending the majority of her time with. She loves spending time with family, enjoying warm weather, and being outdoors! Along with dancing, she also enjoys snowboarding, hiking, camping, four-wheeling, hunting, fishing, traveling, and working on cars. Autumn is excited to be a new member of the Rushettes and can’t wait to see what the season has in store!

Rachel Brown

Rachel grew up in the small town of Laconia, Indiana. In 2006, she embarked on the journey to South Dakota to work as a paleontology intern at the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, South Dakota (SDSMT). Rachel then was accepted to graduate school at South Dakota School of Mines. Currently, Rachel is working toward getting a Master’s of Science in Paleontology at SDSMT, where she hopes to graduate in May 2010. This is her first year with the Rush Organization, and is excited for the upcoming hockey season as a Rushette.

In her spare time, Rachel enjoys doing outdoor activities with her boyfriend, John, such as; hiking in the Black Hills, mountain biking, running, and collecting rocks and minerals. Rachel enjoys participating in various paleontology excavations for SDSMT. In addition, Rachel loves spending the rest of her free time working out at Stretch Studio.

Jayde Mohammadi

Jayde recently moved to Rapid City from Las Vegas, Nevada, where she lived for seventeen years. Jayde was a full-time student at the University of Las Vegas-Nevada, majoring in Liberal Arts. She was a dancer for the The Goddesses, the dance team for the Las Vegas Gladiators Arena Football Team, from 2005-2007. She served as captain in her second year with the team. From there, she went on to work at Coyote Ugly Las Vegas from 2006-2008 and was a go-go dancer at various nightclubs on the Las Vegas strip up until moving to South Dakota. She left Las Vegas to be with her fiancé, George, who is currently stationed at Ellsworth Air Force base.

Jayde is looking forward to dancing for a team again and being able to perform on a weekly basis in front of large crowds. She sees this experience as an opportunity to meet people since she is so new to the city. Jayde has been performing her entire life and looks forward to being able to do it in a new city.  

Sarah Teuber

Sarah is an 18-year-old senior at Saint Thomas More High School. As a dancer with nine years of experience, she is delighted to join the Rushettes for second season! Sarah comes from a family of four children—she has an older sister, an older brother, and one younger brother.

A few words to describe Sarah would be energetic, motivated, and active. She loves to pamper herself and has a minor shopping problem! In her free time, she enjoys watching movies, listening to music, snowboarding, traveling, and spending time with family and friends. She also loves Pilates, kickboxing, Zumba, and yoga. Most of her spare time is spent at Stretch Studio!

Charissa Howard

Charissa Howard was born and raised in the capital city of Pierre, SD. After highschool she moved to Arizona where she attended massage therapy school. She has been working as a therapist for the past 5 years and is currently employed at Blue Sky salon and day spa in Rapid City.

Charissa started dancing at age 4. Taking classes in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, and her deffinate favorite being hip hop. You'll find her dancing every chance she gets, anytime anywhere! She cheered all 4 years of highschool and some in college as well.

Charissa now devotes all her time to her 1 year old son. They are always on the go traveling to see family and friends and love their getaways to Lake Havasu. She spends as much time as possible at Stretch Studio doing one of her favotite things in the world-Zumba!! Charissa also likes indulging in retail therapy and her addictions to coffee and Greys Anatomy. She really enjoys the simple things in life such as chillaxing at home, laughing with her best friends,and walking her shit-zu, Bellamy. Charissa says she feels lucky to have so many great things in her life and is thrilled to add being a Rushette as one of them!!!

Melissa Stetser

Melissa was raised in central Minnesota and lived there until the Air Force brought her to Rapid City in 2003. Since exiting the military in 2008, she now spends most of her time running a 24/7 daycare in Rapid Valley. She has been married to her husband, Keith, for 5 years, and they have two boys. Melissa is also earning her degree in Business Management with a Child Development specialization. She enjoys every opportunity given to learn something new that she can teach her daycare kids.

When Melissa has time to herself, you can find her working out at Stretch Studio, taking a long run, or reading a good book! She loves to go camping with her family and spend time with her husband exploring the Black Hills on their harley. Growing up around Hockey, She is excited for the 2009-2010 season and grateful to be part of the Rush organization! GO RUSH!!!

Frankie Leyva

Frankie is 22 years old, 100% Hispanic, and originally from California. Frankie danced for her high school dance team and participated in color guard for 7 years. She was also a color guard instructor for her town’s middle school for two years after graduating from high school. In addition, she played soccer for 11 years on a team with half of her cousins!

Frankie moved to Rapid City one year and 8 months ago after being stationed at Ellsworth Air Force base. She has found a liking for the Black Hills area because it reminds her of her home town back in California. Although she misses her family back home, she has made a lot of great friends here in Rapid City!

This is Frankie’s first year as a Rushette, and she is loving every minute of it! Between the team and working at The Buckle, she keeps herself very busy! In her spare time, she LOVES to work out at the EAFB gym and manages to fit it into her schedule at least 5 times a week. Since moving to the area, Frankie has learned and picked up snowboarding very quickly. Between this newfound love of snow and her growing excitement for the Rush hockey season, Frankie is a California girl who can’t wait for winter! 

Ashley Leat

Ashley is a 26-year-old Sleep Technologist at Black Hills Neurology. Growing up, her father was in the United States Air Force, so she got to experience many wonderful, exciting places and live in many different areas of the country. However, Ashley graduated from Stevens High School in 2001 and is proud to call Rapid City her home. She is happily married to her wonderful husband, Kirby, and has 2 dogs, Dillon and Daisy. In her spare time, she enjoys going for Harley rides throughout the Black Hills with her husband. She also likes working out, ice skating, spending time with friends and family, walking her dogs, and boating with her family.

Ashley has always loved to dance, whether it's been taking Zumba classes at Stretch Studio or just dancing around the house. She has experience in tap, ballet, and gymnastics. Ashley is very excited to be back for another fabulous year as a Rushette.

Holly Lien

Holly grew up in the Black Hills and graduated from Stevens High School where she was a member of the cheerleading squad. She attended college at the University of Wyoming where she obtained a Business Administration degree and a minor in Marketing. She is currently enrolled as an Executive Masters of Business Administration student through Kennesaw State University in Georgia. This program specializes in family business. Every two months, Holly has the opportunity to travel around the world and study different family businesses. She will graduate with her MBA in January. Holly is a proud employee of her family business, Pete Lien and Sons. Currently, she serves as the Safety Coordinator for the company.

In her spare time, Holly enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and three Scottish Terriers. Holly is excited to be a member of an organization that brings such excitement to the wonderful Black Hills. She values the opportunity to give back to the community as a Rushette and looks forward to cheering the Rush Team on to a winning season!

Emily Hirschman

Emily is 20 years old and the youngest in a family of four girls.  She was born in Rapid City, but moved to Florida when she was young. Fort Walton Beach, Florida was her home for 12 years until she recently returned to the Black Hills to live. Emily is looking forward to joining the Rush Organization and beginning her first year as a Rushette!

Apart from dancing, Emily is a manager at the East. St. Patrick Tanworld. In her spare time, she loves to work out at Stretch Studio, play softball, read, travel, cook, clean, and spend time with family and friends!

A few words to describe Emily would be high energy, motivated, and active! GO RUSH!

Leah Kienzle

Leah is a native to Black Hawk, South Dakota. She is a 20-year-old with an extensive dance background that starts with dancing at Just Jymnastics Just Dance when she was 10 years old. At 16, she spent a year and a half at the Academy of Dance. She also danced on the Stevens Blues team for 3 years in high school.

Leah graduated from Rapid City Stevens High school in 2008. She is now a Bridal Consultant at Forever Yours Bridal and Formal Wear. In her spare time, she likes to read, dance, bike, listen to music, and eat! Amongst her favorite foods are chocolate, pizza, and cherry Icees

Leah will be returning to the Rushettes dance team after participating in the inaugural season! She is looking forward to another exciting year with the Rush!

Emily Rathbun

Emily is a native to Rapid City and the Black Hills. She is a graduate of Stevens High School and was a member of the Stevens Blues Dance Team. She is currently going to school for Elementary Education at Black Hills State University. Emily has an extensive background in dance, including a 4-day training in Orlando, Florida that instructed in Zumba fitness, salsa, samba, tango, belly dance, cumbia, hip hop and merenge. She is currently a dance fitness instructor at Stretch Studio in downtown Rapid City.

In her spare time, Emily enjoys spending time with family, hiking, camping, snowboarding, and spending time in the Black Hills. She is excited to be a member of the Rushettes and enjoys being a part of this new and exciting opportunity for Rapid City and the Black Hills.

Brittany Grimsrud

Brittany Grimsrud is a 19-year-old college student at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota. Her dancing career began at the age of four when she started classes at the Prima School of Dance. She danced all the way though high school and was the captain of the St. Thomas Moore Dance Team her senior year. She is excited to have the opportunity to continue dancing on the Rushettes Dance Team. Dancing is Brittany’s biggest passion, but in her spare time she also likes to shop, snowboard, take pictures, and hang out with her family and friends.

Brittany’s father, who was an avid Rush hockey fan, passed away this past spring. For this season, Brittany will be dancing in his memory.

Maria Gonzalez

Maria is eighteen years old and the youngest of six children. She was born and raised in the Black Hills. She is a senior at Saint Thomas More High School, and is actively involved in a variety of extra curricular activities. Her biggest passion is soccer, and has been enjoying the sport for 12 years now. Maria has collegiate ambitions for soccer once she finishes her senior season at St. Thomas More.

Maria works in her sister’s fashion boutiques, Peyton and Henry’s and Shangri La. In her spare time, she loves to do Zumba and Pilates at Stretch Studio. She also enjoys spending time with her ten nieces and nephews! A couple words to describe Maria’s personality would be energetic and loving. She loves listening to music, and her favorite indulgence is tiramisu. Maria was a member of the Saint Thomas More’s dance team and now enjoys dancing for the Rushettes!

Kelly Strong

Kelly was born in Bury St. Edmunds, England, and has been fortunate enough to spend most of her life between the beautiful Black Hills and the UK.  She attended Stevens High School where she was a member of the Blues Dance Team.  After graduating high school, Kelly went on to attend the University of Northern Colorado and earned a Bachelor's in Sports and Exercise Science. In college, she was a member of Delta Zeta sorority for whom she choreographed and danced in many sorority functions. Kelly also spent a year studying abroad at the University of Nottingham, England, and was on the school's dance/cheerleading team as well. Kelly is now a Cardiac Exercise Specialist at Rapid City Regional Hospital. She loves finally being back in the Hills!

In her spare time, Kelly loves traveling, reading, trying to snowboard, working out at Stretch Studio, and spending time with family, friends, and her great boyfriend! Kelly is proud to be part of such an exciting organization and is looking forward to another wonderful season with the Rapid City Rush!