Cheerleaders are the base of school spirit, making appearances at events throughout the year. However, not only is the team cheering on the school’s athletics, but also competing for themselves. The team will compete at Nationals in Orlando, Florida, this weekend.
Senior cheer captain Lakyn Everard said the team has been preparing extensively, and she is excited for the results to show on the mat.
“We’ve been practicing our game day routine since we got it in June, so we’ve been practicing it since,” Everard said. “Running full outs, making sure we’re working on technique, make sure our timing is right, that we’re engaging with the crowd and making it [fun] even though we do have choreographed motions.”
This year, the cheer program placed second at state and won regionals, which earned them their bid to nationals. Assistant coach Caroline Ayres said the team has a lot of leaders that help with the competitive atmosphere.
“I feel like they do a great job, not picking up the coach’s slack, but we can only do so much,” Ayres said. “It takes coming from a peer. So they do a great job of coaching the team and working alongside us well.”
In recent years, the cheer program has excelled, with consecutive state titles in 2020 and 2021, along with several other awards. This year is no different. Everard said the program has been successful all four years of her high school career.
“We’ve accomplished a lot this season. Starting off with regionals, we ended up winning and getting a bid to compete at the UCA nationals,” Everard said. “Then, we went to State … and we ended up getting runners-up.”
Along with that, no Blue Valley school has placed at Nationals before. Everard said she is confident in the team’s ability to accomplish it.
“I think we’re coming ready and prepared to compete, and we’re hoping to qualify for finals,” Everard said. “We’re hoping that we can be the first team [in the district].”
However, as with any competition, it takes hard work and challenges to accomplish goals. Ayres said Nationals has several components that differ from what the team has seen before.
“It’s a really big competition and it’s based on different scales,” Ayres said. “It’s run by UCA, whereas State is obviously just a state program, so there’s a lot more judges and different criteria to meet.”
Overall, Everard said the girls are extremely resilient and always willing to give it their all.
“I’m super excited. This is our second year going back,” Everard said. “We went last year, and that was already so much fun, but the team is so driven this year, and I think that going with such a positive and driven mindset, we’re going to have such a great outcome.”
Cheer will perform on Feb. 9 and the competition will be streamed on Varsity TV.
“The team this year is hardworking. I think that’s the word I would use, because these girls don’t let anything get in their way of being great,” Everard said. “They’re so driven and so talented, and I’m just so grateful to see that as a captain.”
