By Brittany Snow

Staff Writer

This past weekend, the varsity cheer team competed at the United Spirit Association (USA) Spirit Nationals. The team left for competition on Friday to the Anaheim Convention Center.

The team placed ninth out of 19 teams. They were one point away from advancing to finals, as only the top eight teams qualified to the next day.

“There’s always something else we [can] do, so this year we are [correcting all the mistakes] we [made] last year,” stated varsity flier, junior Katie Neman.

With no boys on the squad this year, they were not eligible to participate in the Co-Ed Varsity Cheer Novice division, and were placed in a new category.   

“This is my third cheer nationals since being on cheer, and I think this is the one I’m most confident about,” stated senior Alenna Espadas, “mainly because we’ve been doing so well and placing a lot. I think this team is really going to set us apart from the other competitors.”

Preparing for each competition has consisted of up to four hour practices on weekends and on holidays, alongside after school practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well.

“[Practice] is very stressful and frustrating sometimes,” stated freshman Alyssa Macias, “but in the end it’s worth it.”

All teams were judged based off their technique, content, and execution in categories such as stunts, pyramids, tumbling, and jumps. Ranging from two to five points for each category, the teams were placed into four different levels. Points were determined by the minimum requirement that must be seen in the routine.

The four different levels were novice, intermediate, advanced, and non-tumbling groups, which were not a part of the judging sheet for the tumbling category.

Previously attending the USA Regionals at Summit High School on Jan. 6, the team placed first in the first round of competition, and came out with second place in the second round. Alongside their first place win at Regionals, the team also achieved their highest score of 92.

  “We got first place, which was really unexpected because the day before was a little bit tough,” stated co-captain senior Martha Lopez. “The second round we didn’t come in as strong, but we did work hard.”