Last weekend, the cheer team attended the cheer state competition at New Castle High School and walked away with the state title. The Panthers competed at 11 a.m. Saturday. 

The team cheers competitively, as well as at basketball and football games. The team never fails to bring school spirit to the crowd with their exciting routines. 

The team worked hard during the weeks leading up to state. 

“We have practice four days a week and usually competitions on Saturdays,” senior Mariah Brown said. 

The team had constant practices where they worked to master the routine they performed this past weekend. 

“To prepare, we ran through the routine multiple times a practice, being focused while still having fun and putting in 100% effort every time,” senior Lailah Jewell said. 

The team clearly worked hard to earn this well-deserved state title, and felt accomplished when they got what they were working toward. 

“It feels so amazing to finally accomplish what we’ve worked so hard for since my freshman year,” Jewell said, “I’m so glad I got to end my senior year competition season off so amazing.”

“It feels good, especially being my senior year I really wanted to end on a good note,” Brown said. 

The seniors especially are very proud and appreciative of their win. 

The team has made some improvements over the past few years to get to the point where they are now. 

“Our team has improved tremendously because everyone put so much hard work into improving their jumps, tumbling and our stunts,” senior Victoria White said, “Not only in skills, I feel like this year compared to other years the bond between everyone is so strong, and I feel like that also definitely plays a role as well. We’ve pushed ourselves harder than we ever had before, and we have a great group of girls this year.” 

The team worked diligently this year to earn their state title. The team’s season isn’t quite over yet, as they will continue to cheer for our basketball teams this winter.