From Feb. 7-10, the State High Varsity Cheerleading Team competed in the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship. The team conveyed a high-spirited performance, presented their hard work and left the competition with incredible memories.

Team Dynamics

Sports teams often become more than just a collective of members; they turn into a family. The intense requirements of cheerleading link the athletes with each other, creating trust and a positive environment.

“I like the connection that we all have with each other. We are just teenagers doing something that we all love and enjoy doing,” freshman Nova Loht said.

Seniors Reese Fischer and Molly Romanini echoed Loht’s sentiment.“They are my best friends and I just like spending time with them,” Fischer said.

“[Cheerleading] really brings everyone together as a community and it also allows us to support all the other teams in our school which is super fun,” Romanini said.

Qualification Period

There were a lot of challenges with new regulations, size of the team, and many athletes new to the high school level. With a large group of freshmen, there was unsureness about how the team’s skill level would build up.

“UCA is the subsect of varsity that we compete through and they just released this year that you need to score a 90 to get a bid to go to Nationals. Our team has never scored that high in the past and even this year we didn’t score a 90. So, we were not expecting to go,” coach Arianna Kourochin said.

“We had to get a pretty high score at regionals in order to make Nationals. We didn’t end up getting that score, but the judges decided to let us get the bid to Nationals,” Romanini said.

About the Routine

The standard time for each cheerleading routine is 2:30 minutes. Romanini described State High’s routine.

“We start our routine with elites, so we have three groups of four people and we each showcase similar stunts that go with the flow of the music, we throw the flyer, they do a toe touch which makes a really cool visual. We move into running tumbling where everyone showcases a tumbling pass. We do a round of a handspring, then one tumbler does a round-off, which is a very big visual, and then a couple of us stand up and do a cartwheel tuck which is another really good tumbling skill. Then we move into our cheer,” Romanini said.

The Competition Trip

Although State High did not place, the team had a great experience at the national competition. The competition was hosted in Orlando, Florida. Athletes had a nice time exploring the famous Disney parks.

“ We spent about two full days at the park, so it was so much fun. I really got to know some teammates that I didn’t really know as much before,” senior Zeyla Webber said. 

State High Cheerleading is not only a sports team, but a big family that supports each other. “It was basically just hanging out with my friends and going on a vacation with them,” Fischer said.

The team held its final event on Feb. 22 in State High’s North Gym and now moves into preparations for next year.