Last week, the varsity cheer squad competed at the UIL state competition in Ft. Worth. 

“Being at state was kind of bittersweet,” senior cheerleader Annabelle Greene said.  “I was excited to do it but it was also my last year. Everyone was full of energy and ready to go.”

The cheer team practiced specifically for the state competition three days a week until the state contest and were prepared to do their best no matter the outcome. Cheer leadership was excited to lead their squad to the final rounds, but unfortunately, they came just short. The experience, however, was fun for everyone. 

“I felt like I was going to throw up,” cheer captain and senior, Avery Best said. “I was confident, but not overly confident that we would do really well. I thought we were really well prepared for it and I thought we had the material and routine down, so the ultimate result was a bit disappointing, but I thought we did well in our performance anyways.” 

With so many seniors on the team, there were a lot of strong feelings knowing it was the last competition together. 

“I was a little bummed that we did not make it to finals, but I know we all tried our best and put in a lot of work,” senior and co-captain Alani Jones said. “I’m very proud of everyone and seeing what everyone has become and how they’ve improved in cheer. I’m going to miss cheer a lot, but I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my life.”

The cheer team was also joined by senior Jaycee Harris who moved to Buffalo after cheer tryouts. She competed with them at state when they were short members for the state squad. 

“The cheer team was very welcoming and full of energy,” Harris said. “Going on the trip with them I felt like we were a family already even though I came in late. I’m so thankful that I got the opportunity to perform with them at state.”

While this was Harris’s first time competing with the Buffalo team, it was not her first time competing at the state competition, having been a member of the cheer team at her previous high schools. New to the Buffalo High School cheer squad, cheer state, and the high school squad itself were this season’s freshmen: five of the 14 members.

“I was super excited to go to state,” freshman Evangeline Arabie said. “I worked on the routines and the chants every night at home and did my very best to be a productive, helpful, useful part of the team. I’m really going to miss all the seniors that I made friends with, so I’m sad that it ended sooner than we had hoped, but I’m glad we went out with a bang.”

After they found out that they would not be competing the next day, the team had one final bonding experience by bowling and playing games at Main Event. They figured that even if they were upset about the loss and the end of the competitive season, at least they could cheer themselves up afterward. 

“Playing at Main Event was bittersweet,” Kaylen Sanchez said. “It was super fun to get to hang out with the team, and we got to bowl and play games, but it was sad because we wouldn’t be competing the next day.”