A competition like never before, in times like never before, gave the state cheer team a few butterflies as they loaded up to travel to Ft. Worth earlier this month for competition.
The annual UIL Cheer Competition had to make numerous adjustments to ensure safety and guidelines under COVID. Cheerleaders were guided in between performances, maintaining six feet distances and wearing masks at all times when not actually competing.
“The faculty handed COVID guidelines really well, we had to wear masks on all the time except when we stepped on the mat, and we had to be extra-separated from other teams,” sophomore Naidi Dominguez said. “We couldn’t interact with other teams, but we were there to compete and give it our best.”
Previously, there were three different sets of prelims. Usually, cheerleaders would go onto the mat and perform and then wait an hour or more until the next performance. This year, teams performed all three sets at once and then left the competition area. The hope was to prevent any COVID spread; the virus has already made things challenging for the squad this year.
“We were limited on practices, so I just simply wanted them to go out there and do the very best they could possibly do,” cheer sponsor Cheryl Lack said. “We had some cheerleaders quarantined the week of the contest, and it was tough. It made me a nervous wreck. I’m usually practice, practice, practice, but at times I had no options or control over COVID. I felt that their performance was one of the cleanest I’ve ever seen from any of my squads since we started State back in 2016. They absolutely did amazing and I couldn’t have asked for a better team.”
Cheer teams were given three minutes to knock out all prelims. Buffalo varsity cheerleaders competed Friday morning at 10:59 a.m. They ranked 13th in Crowd Leading, 21st in Fight Song and 51st in Band Chant. Varsity cheerleaders missed the one of 20 spots for finals.
“Needless to say, I was really upset because it was my last, but also it wasn’t the outcome we deserved, “senior Sydney Lebel said. “It’s going to be one of the hardest things in May when I graduate and leave. This team is my family, and I learned that no matter what happens from the first day to the last, when you step on the floor nothing else matters.”
