On January 26 the competition cheer team advanced to States which took place in Hershey at the Giant Center. The girls left school at 9:30 in the morning to get ready for their performance that same afternoon.
“There were so many thoughts and emotions going through everyone on the team. Most of us were nervous but also very excited,” junior Madison Wilson said. “The warm ups were probably the most nerve racking part because everyone was worried to go out and compete especially if warm ups don’t go as planned.”
The girls ended up placing fourth for their division further qualifying them for semi finals which would occur the following morning.
“It was such an amazing experience to hear the announcer say “Perkiomen Valley!” during awards ceremonies,” Wilson said.
Working up to this day was quite a challenge for the team as they had a lot of new members join who had to learn the basics of their positions. In addition, the structure was different and for returning girls, they had to adjust to the changes.
“Starting the year off with an entirely new coaching staff was one of our setbacks but we all worked really hard to qualify for states and eventually for semifinals,” sophomore Madison Katiits said.
Despite the adversity, the team managed to work together and perform their routine at the competition without receiving any deductions. Right before they performed, they hyped each other up and tried to settle the nervous energy flowing through the air.
“We always play the same few songs to get us excited and take our mind off of the routine just for a few minutes,” Wilson said. Our coaches tell us what we need to do to be successful and things we need to focus on during the routine. Then right before we go on the mat we all get in a big circle and say “WE ARE VIKING NATION!!” before we run on.”
The next day early in the morning the girls performed again in semifinals, but did not advance to finals which would have been later that day. The team placed 9th in the state out of 15 teams from their specific category.
Although the competition season is over, the 17 girls among others from the sideline team are involved in doing stunts and cheers during basketball games.
“I love the comradery of my team and how close we are to each other,” sophomore Soffia Lukens said. “After all, we spend most of the school year together between basketball games and football games, practice, and competitions.”