The cheer team switched directions this year, opting to compete in Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) competition. They traveled to Austin for the contest, winning the bid and advancing to a national competition at Disney in Orlando in February.

“I was nervous and excited about entering the UCA competition,” cheer director Megan King said. “I hope to improve on our stunts and hitting stunts even more before nationals.”

The cheer team competed in the UCA small varsity game day non tumbling and had four events to tackle: Band Chant, Situation Sideline, Crowd Leading and Fight Song.

“It was a similar competition to what we’ve done in the past,” senior Saloni Jariwla said. “The only difference is that we were up against new teams who we’ve never competed with.”

With a smaller team, new stunts, adding junior high cheerleaders to the squad and a joining a new competition circuit, there were challenges the team had to face.

“We had to teach the junior high cheerleaders a lot of new stuff, so that set us back a few weeks,” senior Ashley White said. “However, they caught on pretty quickly and we are all proud of them.”

Although the cheer team usually competes in the annual UIL Cheer Competition for the past six years, they decide to make a change this year.

“Last year’s loss hit us pretty hard; we haven’t made it to finals in a long time so it was time for a change,” senior and captain of the cheer team Jazlynn Early said. “Going into UCA, we were completely blind, but we managed to work with what we had.”

If the team does well in the earliest levels of competition, they will have the chance to compete in the finals on Feb. 13.

“I feel really good about our performance,” King said. “With the changes on the band chant and working on stunts and sharpness during practice, I believe we have a good chance at nationals.”