The cheer team was nervous for UIL this year after missing last year due to COVID and joining a new division. However, they shocked even themselves and were ranked 14 overall in the state of Texas.
In their past three appearances at UIL, they had made it to finals. Since these appearances they’ve experienced a lot of adversity as a team, but due to hands-on coaching, captains that lead by example and a team that banded together that were able to push through the adversity from the past year.
“We’ve been through a lot and my goal this year wasn’t to win,” senior Captain Summer Simmons said. “I thought a realistic expectation this year because last year we didn’t due to COVID and it’s a new division for us.”
There was a lot of newness from cheerleaders to divisions. The main goal of the team was to put their best foot forward.
“This was our first year competing as a co-ed team, so my hope was that we would at least final,” Cheer Coach Jennifer Lenoard said. “The top 20 teams in the state, final. We just weren’t sure what to expect going into it, but it was an awesome moment we found out we had made finals.”
Co-ed requires you to have at least three men on the team and they need to be actively involved in everything the girls are doing.
“I had never done it before so I didn’t know how well other teams were but I thought giving it my all was the only thing I could do,” sophomore Sean Allen said.
The judges look to see how well you incorporate them and if you’re doing stunts that are more appropriate for having males.
“Their strength also provided our stunts with more consistency,” Leonard said.
The first part is prelims and during that, you are scored on band, chant and crowd reading. All parts must be under a minute in length.
“We had to go and check in, so we were just in the hallway with other cheer teams,” senior Natalie Flores said. “Then we had to check in to warm up, there were two mats we had to go to. For the first mat, we got seven minutes to do stunts, jumps and tumbling. Then for the second mat, we had two minutes to do a full out. Then maybe a two-minute break before we perform.”
One of the biggest things they’re looking for is how you lead a crowd to participate and chant back.
“Once all the teams have gone, the top 20 make the final round,” Leonard said. “So you go back and do it all again except this time it’s all a three-minute routine. Then they throw in a surprise element where they give you an offense or defense call and you have to choose the appropriate cheer for it.”
In the team's three recent UIL appearances, they’ve made it to finals, yet didn’t place very high once they were in finals.
“The difference between the teams that have made finals and those that haven’t is desire and determination,” Leonard said. “You can tell what teams have that hunger.”
The judges are looking for the teams that have the best spirit, energy and stamina in the state. Having all of these qualities takes a lot of work.
“We’ve been working on stamina a lot, so just doing it over and over at practice,” Flores said. “We did this so our energy would stay up at competitions, and energy is worth a lot of points at our competitions.”
During practice, there was a lot that needed to be done. The team knew they needed to prepare like never before in order to make finals.
“Last year, we learned it somewhat during the summer,” Flores said. “So this one we were kinda nervous for because we learned it a lot later. But to be fair, last year we didn’t have pep rallies last year and we did this year which meant having a new routine every week. We had a choreographer come in from OU, where he cheers.”
The captains played a huge role in motivating the team. They made sure to stay on top of their responsibilities and be good leaders.
“I started preparing for UIL in my captain tryouts, and ever since the summer, I’ve been encouraging my teammates,” Simmons said.
The captains work with the team in a very respectful way, which makes communication very effective.
“My captains this year are absolutely amazing,” Leonard said. “I am able to convey to them my expectations and they are able to take that and see the overall picture I am seeing and take and make it even better.”
The captains are running different things a lot, like teaching new material and once the team has it down Leonard can go in and clean everything up.
“I was always the person that made the to-do list,” Simmons said. “That way we weren’t losing time. I was more of a planner, Jaycee was more of ‘the boss,’ Presleigh was a motivator and Autumn was the one who would fix things and make them look good.”
Many members of the cheer team state how easy it is to talk to the captains, emphasizing the work they put in to lead practices and make sure everyone feels welcome.
“When I was a freshman, I watched the captains lead us to finals, so it was kinda cool to be the person who [does] that this year,” Simmons said. “I helped create the routine and what we did every day and I’m leaving a legacy for the captains behind us because they’ll want to do even better.”
Even with all their success, Leonard knows that there’s always room for improvement. The team would like to continue tweaking their “Fight Song” choreography, building up their male program, adding more co-ed-specific stunts and cleaning up their motions even more.
“We all wanted to let the seniors walk away knowing they did really well so that they can keep that memory,” junior Maddie McClain said.
The seniors, especially the captains, are such a vital part of the cheer program and they’ll be leaving an amazing legacy behind.