Wolverine cheerleaders placed sixth at their Division Three competition at Montgomery Blair High School on November 14 after months of training and preparation. Their next competition will be in February. 

According to history teacher Sandy Young, who was a judge at the competition, the cheer team did “phenomenally great. They performed a flawless routine.” They also did their “advanced stunts and executed them well,” Young added. To keep the cheer squad performing well, Young said that “there should be more tumblers since they are so gymnast-oriented on the team.”

The girls have improved a lot compared to last year, however their placement overall may not be an accurate representation. “Our stunts improved, our jumps improved, [and] our motions improved,” senior captain Ester Jowi said. “We put a lot of tireless hours into our choreography.”

“We had many harder stunts and actually hit them this year,” sophomore Fatou Drammeh added. “It’s not easy working together, but you decide to come together as a team.”

“They definitely did [well]. They improved a lot compared to last year,” freshman poms member Samantha Naya said. Naya’s favorite parts of the competition performance were the team’s chants. “They were all in sync,” Naya added.

“I think we deserved a higher place,” freshman Lauren Flandrau said. Even though Flandrau is not on the team, she went to cheer the girls on as part of Orange Nation.

The team started practicing for their next competition on November 30. “This year we upped our game and did better,” sophomore Ariennah Simmons said. “Our coach knows what critiques the judges gave us, [so] she will take that [into] consideration.”

For the next competition, coach Aleja Houston is “ready to help us succeed,” Jowi added.

Houston said, “We will be ready for our next competition, but it’s going to take hard work and dedication.” Houston plans to help the team work on building “team unity [and] teamwork, as well as reshaping/rebuilding the cheerleading program.”

While there is definitely work to be done before the next competition, the cheerleaders look forward to the challenge because “It’s fun working with each other,” Simmons said.

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Catherisa Apostol