Cheer: Success at state
January 22, 2019
After winning first place at regionals, varsity cheer advanced to the state competition. The road to state entailed more difficulty than the training for regionals. Head varsity coach Megan Speer helped the girls prepare for state by making the routine harder and practicing it.
“We have had practice 2-3 times a week since the summer. Since regionals we worked on making sure we had clean execution and added more difficulty,” said Speer.
The preparation for state was difficult, and the team had a hard time coming together. It was challenging for the girls to get used to the process, but varsity cheerleader Kendall Dobrin believes that after a while, they did.
“At first, our team had the worst attitude, and nobody would get along and nobody liked coming to practices. Practices were terrible, and it wasn’t until the last two weeks that we started having good practices and people started having good attitudes,” said Dobrin.
The team knew what they needed to do, which made practicing harder than it had been. Varsity cheerleader Jaylin Lewis admits that the strenuous practices were difficult for the girls to get through.
“It was hard because we knew what we had to do and what we had to execute. Some of the stuff wasn’t getting there so we had to work even harder to make sure that we looked good,” said Lewis.
In order to make the practices more successful, the coaches helped the girls unite as a team.
“At the beginning there was a lot of attitudes and a lot of words thrown around, and we kind of had our own little groups we hung out with, but I feel like once the coaches got involved we came together,” said Lewis.
Leading up to state, the varsity cheer team worked to put together a routine to compete with at state.
“There were a lot of tears and a lot of arguments. I think it was because we were under so much pressure, but then once we came together as a team I feel like practices got better,” said Lewis.
With state being in a different place, the coaches did not know what to expect.
“This was a whole new experience. Typically state is at Columbia and was run by a different president. This year has been quite different for the team but I believe in all it was a good change,” said Speer.
The varsity cheer team ended the day by taking home second place.
“We really did work hard, and maybe it’s not what we wanted, but we hit a really good routine-one of our best routines ever. I was happy with it. Some girls were disappointed that we didn’t get first, but I was happy, especially considering we went up against Liberty (eight time state champs), and to come close to beating them feels really good,” said Dobrin.
Even though second place is not first, the girls and coaches were happy with the turn out of the competition.
“I am pretty happy with the outcome. It feels great, when you know the team hit the routine. You have no regrets as an athlete and a coach,” said Speer.
After competing, the girls have memories that will last.
“Getting to spend time with my team and to know that we did the best we could. That feeling is really nice,” said Dobrin.
The next round of competitions will be nationals on January 26th and 27th of 2019.
