The eleven girls stood frozen in the glare of the spotlights. The buzzer went off and the girls ran onto the floor, excited to give a memorable performance.

The varsity cheerleaders traveled to Fort Worth to compete at the 3A State Cheer Competition at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

“When we first arrived at the convention center it was a little overwhelming to see the many teams practicing,” junior Andrea Garcia said. “We just had to remind ourselves to remain confident.”

The varsity cheerleaders competed against more than 70 teams in the 3A division.

“I was a bit terrified because last year there were fewer teams,” senior Nadia Garcia said.  “Knowing there were more teams this year was quite intimidating.”

The competition began early morning, with prelim rounds where teams were able to perform in the three categories: fight song, band dance and crowd leading.

“I felt confident that we did good, specifically in the crowd leading section,” junior Tana Cleveland said. “But I was unsure if it was enough to pull through to finals.”

The junior high cheerleaders were able to travel to Fort Worth to support and help cheer on the varsity girls.

“It was so awesome to see them be able to come all the way to Fort Worth to cheer us on,” cheer sponsor Cheryl Lack said. “Plus I think it was a great experience for the eighth graders to see it in person before entering high school cheer.”

The top 20 teams moved on to the final rounds the evening of the competition.

“Earlier this year when we figured out that there would be more than 70 teams and only the top 20 moved on, we were a bit scared,” senior Ima Champion said. “We knew we had to work really hard if we wanted to move into finals.”  

The cheerleaders did not advance.

“It was so nerve-wracking when the judges were calling the teams names that were advancing to finals,” senior Shalyn Cotton said. “When they called the teams names and we didn’t hear ours called, it was really sad because we worked really hard.”

Although the girls did not advance, they came very close, placing 23rd.

“We were upset to hear that we were so close into making it to finals,” captain Taylor Lack said. “The seniors and I are hopeful that the girls will break into finals next year.”