Taking the mat at home is a whole different feeling when the girls are competing.
“Competing at home is like a completely different type of pressure than regular competitions because it’s your gym, and those are your mats that you practice on every day,” said senior Becca Nadeau.
Nerves can start to take over, but with the help of their teammates, they know how to push through together.
“Before performing, we get motivated by hyping each other up and even singing to shake out the nerves #cheerchoir,” said senior Abby Kicklighter.
During the routine, the girls like to communicate throughout the whole routine to help them stay in the moment.
“I help the team stay in the moment by talking to them, making eye contact, and making sure they’re talking to each other rather than staying in their own head,” Kicklighter said.
They have their ups and downs, but the crowd’s energy cheering them on always sets the mood when they take the mat.
“When the crowd is yelling and getting excited, it’s easy to feed off of them because you’re thinking, yes, we’re hitting this and were doing so good too,” Nadeau said.
As for seniors, it was their last time ever taking the mat together at State with a drive to finish strong.
“As a senior, it was very bittersweet to be at State for the last time. It is always an amazing experience, and to have it be the last time was really hard, but amazing knowing we did the best we could,” said senior Caitlin Barenbaum.
Overall, the team took 10th in the State and is very proud of their accomplishments.
“We took tenth in the State, and I am personally very proud of everything we accomplished. We had so many ups and downs throughout the season, and I have never loved and cared about a groups of girls more. I am beyond proud of this team and everything we accomplished,” Barenbaum said.