Cheer team receives superior rating at competition
The cheer team participated in their first competition of the season at Blue Valley Southwest
November 13, 2017
The cheer team earned a superior one rating for their group routine in the Blue Valley Southwest Showcase at Blue Valley Southwest on Saturday, Nov. 11. Additionally, the team was presented an outstanding choreography award as well.
Before the competition, the team was hit by some unexpected challenges, according to coach Megan Duden.
“We had a person get hurt Wednesday, [Nov. 8], and we had to change the routine completely,” Duden said. “We worked really hard this week. They are always willing to make changes when we need to and always working hard to better their skills.”
Despite being down a cheerleader, the team was still successful at the showcase. Senior Alexa Horton thought the competition performance went better than it had been at practices.
“That was our first time hitting the whole performance perfect. We haven’t hit it at practice and so today, I think we did really well,” Horton said. “I’m really proud of our team and pulling everything together and hitting everything since we hadn’t done that yet.”
Along with a group routine, there was an individual stunt group that competed. The group consisted of bases sophomore Riley Timmons, juniors Erin Miller and Ashton Rider and flyer sophomore Trinity Ouellette. The stunt group received a rating of excellence for their routine. The complexity of the routine made the stunt more difficult for Ouellette.
“The lib-full we did at the end of our individual, that’s a hard skill to get because you have to drop your foot and not kick your bases,” Ouellette said. “You have to get it exactly right or else it’s not going to go right.”
Overall, Duden was very pleased with how the team competed at the showcase.
“I’m really proud of them. They hit everything and they looked really good,” Duden said. “They did a great job of hitting their stunts, staying solid in the air and making a fun routine by smiling and having good showmanship. They worked really hard, so I’m super proud of them.”
