WEST BRANCH, Mich. (AP) — A mid-Michigan community cheered on a 16-year-old sophomore — the victim of an apparent prank by classmates — as she took her place with other members of her high school's homecoming court.

Whitney Kropp was escorted by her father and grandfather onto the Ogemaw Heights High School football field Friday night in West Branch, about 140 miles northwest of Detroit.

Kropp was named to the homecoming court of the 800-student school earlier this month, but said she felt betrayed after some students suggested her selection was a joke. She said she had been picked on in the past, but it intensified afterward.