The cheerleading team continues to advance their routines with newly implemented skills and a drive to qualify for the state competition for the second consecutive year.

“We made it for the first time in 10 years, last year, and we are hoping to start a streak,” junior Katherine Martinez said.

Their promising start in the competition season was established by their success at their first competition.

“No stunt truly fell out of the air, which we were grateful for,” Martinez said.

“We received a lot of great feedback from the judges and are working to use their feedback to make our routine the best it can be,” senior captain Jordyn Richard said.

“We now compete in Division I. So, we’re up against different teams. We’ve been increasing our difficulty for our stunts and tumbling. So our routine this year is the most advanced it’s been in years,” Richard said.

Martinez believes the victories prove the team’s growth in stunts and a collective mentality of teamwork. Also, their willingenss to try new things.

“We have recently been learning how to fight for stunts and work together, and it is truly showing through the success of our stunts hitting more consistently,” Martinez said.

“In previous years, we weren’t encouraged to do the difficult skills. We are now, and I feel that this season we’re really focusing on the potential we have.”

The focus is important, considering recent injuries have disrupted routines built around the skills of key individuals.

“We’ve needed to make a lot of changes, and I’m so proud of how willing everyone has been to try new things. We have so much talent on the team,” Richard said.

The development of these new skills also helped the team on the sidelines of recent football games.

“We learned some stunts specific to [football games] and I feel that they are going well and help us with our strength and technique for competition,” Martinez said.