By Anyse Gutierrez
Months of practice, commitment, and hard work recently paid off big for the St. Mary’s combined varsity and JV cheer squad when they participated at the two-day state championship at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. (This is the first time is in several years that the St. Mary’s cheer team has made it to the state competition.)
Starting in the opening round on Thursday, Jan. 19, the Lady Knights went up against 10 other schools in the “show cheer” division and ultimately qualified for the finals, which took place two days later.
In the weeks leading up to the event, the ladies responded to numerous challenges, such as scheduling conflicts and the loss of individual team members due to injuries. These problems made it necessary to insert changes into the squad’s performance routine.
Fortunately, no additional major challenges arose in the final days before the competition, so, the team had two relatively “steady” weeks during which they were able to practice as a unit. This period of preparation paid off at the end of the competition when the St. Mary’s squad placed fourth overall in their division.
