Many students and members of the community try to stay up to date with sports like football and basketball, and highlight their successes, but what about cheer? The team has worked hard for months to perfect their routine, and it has already paid off in a big way.

The competition team consists of 21 girls from a mix of grade levels who were all able to come together and outperform the other schools. After countless hours of practicing to have perfect timing and execution of a complex routine, the competition team was able to bring home the district championship win for the second consecutive year. They have also earned the opportunity to compete for the state championships in Hershey on January 27th and 28th. 

All of the student athletes on the team sacrificed much of their time to prepare for the competition. Loralie Bercel, a senior cheerleader who has been on both back-to-back district championship teams, is very glad the effort did not go unnoticed.

“We have practice about 2 to 3 times a week, and the week leading up to districts we practiced every day after school or in the evening. It felt really rewarding to be announced for first place,” Loralie said.

It is very fortunate that both these seniors and last year’s seniors get to leave high school on a positive note. It is rare for student-athletes to win district championships at all, let alone twice in a row.

“After winning I mainly thought about how I now get to graduate with 2 district titles, back to back, and with how hard the team worked to get where we did for the competition,” Loralie said.

While everyone will surely look back and be proud of these accomplishments, the real prize is the relationships that are created by working towards a common goal as a team. Skip Headings, the head coach, understands that and is very proud of all of the team members for all that they have done.

“The team has worked so hard and are truly a family on and off the mat. I am blessed to coach such amazing student athletes,” Skip said.

The district championship took a lot of time and effort to prepare for, and the next step is to try to keep the streak alive and win states. Either way, the memories and friendships made from being a part of a team like this will never fade.