The cheer team placed 32nd out of 54 schools at the UIL Spirit State Championships on Jan. 5 in Fort Worth.

“I feel like it was a great experience,” cheer coach Amanda English said. “They all worked really hard, and I’m really proud of and how they took criticism to grow as a team.” 

It was the team’s first time since 2020 to compete at the UIL Spirit State Championships. Both varsity and junior varsity competed along with their mascot. 

“We had so much fun as a team, and it was a really neat experience,” senior Landri Laing said. “We made many memories getting to explore downtown Fort Worth, and I am very thankful for the opportunity.”

The team learned their choreography in August and took a few breaks due to football season. They began to work on the choreography again in Nov. and Dec. 

“I learned a lot from going to the UIL competition in Fort Worth/Dallas,” freshman Bella VanDyke said.  “It was a very different experience but a fun one, and I’m so thankful that our school let us go do this.”

The dance was choreographed by Savannah Hale, and they would have practices after school and over the Christmas break.

“I had so much fun competing and being in a new environment with all my cheer friends,” junior Kennedy Miller said. “It felt so good to be able to go perform our routine that we’ve been working on.”

The team went to a Game Day Rally at ETBU to compete in Dec. to get feedback from judges. After the event the team was able to make the changes necessary for the competition. 

“I had a blast competing at our first ever UIL cheer competition,” junior Reagan Hope said. “We’ve been working so hard for 5 months and it definitely paid off.”