HannahCusick

The Cheer Team flips and flies to the top of the pyramid at State

On Saturday, Feb. 18 in Grand Island Nebraska, the Marian Select Cheer team took two of their routines to State for the first time in three years. The 21 girls performed in two divisions: Class A Traditional Performance and Class A Game Day Performance. The team placed 3rd out of 6 teams in their traditional performance and 9th out of 18 for their game day performance. 

Captain of the select cheer team Senior Grace Diers said, “We did the best we could and those were probably the best routines we’ve ever performed.” On their game day performance, the team had three deductions, but Diers said, “I’m proud of my team for getting zero deductions on our traditional performance.”

Before going to State, the cheer team had to change their pyramid in their performance they were performing for the traditional division. Freshman Rosie Flores said that going into the competition they “were really scared that we weren’t going to hit it, because in practice it was really rough.” Although the switch was a week and half before State, the team got zero deductions for that performance. “We were all pretty proud of that because it was good at State and we didn’t think it was going to work,” Flores said. 

Now that State is over, Flores said, “It’s sad a little bit because our seniors are leaving, and I’m friends with all of them, but also it’s reliving because I don’t want to practice any more.”

Now that her last cheer season is over, Diers is feeling bittersweet because she’s “glad that the Friday morning practices are over, but I’m a little sad because it was my last time at State.”

Marian’s Dance Team also competed at the National Coaches Association State Dance Championships in Grand Island on Feb. 16. The team qualified for state last year for only their Class A Pom performance. The team’s hard work over the past year paid off and they qualified for state for both their Class A Pom and Jazz performances. The team competed against nine other schools in Pom and placed eighth. They went up against seven other schools in Jazz and their performance placed fifth with zero deductions.  

The Dance team story on their performance at Nationals is in the March Network, page 13.

For video clips from the State Cheer and Dance performances, watch the M-Beat.