The cheer team has been working toward competition all season.

At pep rallies the cheer team performs for the students, presenting their advanced routines. “I love to cheer at pep rallies because the atmosphere is great,” sophomore Jaimie Morris said.

Morris has been cheering since she was young, and it is an important part of her lifestyle. “I have loved cheer ever since I first started. My cheer team outside of school prepared me to be ready for high school cheer,” Morris said.

In addition to pep rallies, the team cheers at football games. Recently, fans have been leaving the games early due to the lopsided scores. “It is really important that we keep the fans in the game, especially since our football team has been struggling this season,” Morris said.

Practice is usually on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. “In the past couple weeks we have been working harder than ever. It can be difficult balancing my schoolwork with school cheer and competitive cheer,” Morris said.

The team participated in the county competition at Blair on Oct. 26. “This is the competition we had been preparing for all season. I was really excited,” sophomore Nicole Wasserman said.

Cheer competitions are long due to having to go through every school’s routines. “I liked being able to see each teams routine. I get to learn new things while watching others,” Morris said.

At the end of the competition, the judges placed the schools. “It is always exciting to hear the results,” Wasserman said.

The team got last place in the first division, out of eight teams. “We are in the highest division, so we did better than it may seem,” Morris said.

The team qualified for regionals, with another chance to prove themselves. “I am excited for the regional meet. I had a lot of fun at counties,” freshman Josie Starr said.

Regionals were on Nov. 2, too late to be included in this issue. “Our season has been very fun. It had its ups and downs, but overall it was a great learning experience,” Starr said.