Cheerleaders reach new high by placing fourth in states

Shaun Salehi, Photo Editor

This year’s varsity cheerleading team has made it where no other has been before.  The ram’s squad earned a spot at states in Richmond at the VCU coliseum. The team finished 2nd in the regional finals and headed to Richmond along with South County High School, Chantilly High School, and Fairfax High School. The team had vastly improved from the last few years and is making a run for state champions. The requirements for the team have been made more difficult to allow only the best tumblers make the squad, and the results are showing.

The team had finished the majority of the competitions in 1st and was heading into Richmond with a lot of confidence. When asked on how the team felt reaching states, Varsity Head Coach Jocelyn Baptiste said, “We are ecstatic just to have made it this far, I will be proud of them whether we win or lose. But that doesn’t mean we weren’t going to try to win this thing.”

In the first round the team finished with flawless routine with close to no deductions and they were sitting pretty going on in the competition. At the end of the first round the Rams were sitting in fourth place with a score of two hundred and fifty seven out of three hundred. They were heading to the final four with a lot of confidence. In the final round the squads had another near perfect performance and were feeling good awaiting the results. Gathered around in their team’s circles, the teams were all anxiously awaiting the announcer to name their school as state champions. It didn’t happen this year but the team has made there and will be hungry for a return next year. The Rams squad might have finished as the winner, but they keep their heads held high, knowing they made school history.