Saturday RBHS’s cheer team competed at the state cheer competition, held at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Missouri. The squad placed fifth in the five large category out of five teams.
Although the outcome may seem dismal, Coach Abby Harbor says it was an achievement just to finish the routine, as two girls quit two weeks prior to the competition.
“We worked really hard and put an entirely new routine together … two days before we came here,” Harbor said. “The girls were excited and had great attitudes and did the best we expected of them and the best they could do.”
All the effort the cheer team put in made for a strong routine overall. Junior Maggie Victor is proud of her team’s performance and believes that they definitely achieved several high points throughout their performance.
“Some highlights were our first pyramid that we do, when [sophomore] Faith [Fleming] hit that switch-up [when a flyer switches feet midair],” Victor said. “And the second pyramid when they hit it up and the extension [when a flyer fully extends their hands while their feet are held by the bases] from their flips.”
The highlights are definitely a sign of promise for the team, and they are optimistic for next season. They’ve already got a few points for improvement. Junior RonTayza Hill thinks that this year they persevered through a lot, and hopes next year they’ll be able to achieve even more.
“Something I believe we can improve on is definitely stunts. Stunts is one of the hardest things about cheerleading.” Hill said “Having to lift another person especially whenever you’re doing your own things like jumps and tumbling in between that. So being able to have the agility to do stunts and make them better.”[vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”277519,277520,277521,277522,277523,277518″ img_size=”large”]