Coaches: Patrice France (head coach), Lindsea Britton (assistant coach), Monet Taylor (assistant coach)
Top Returners: Natalia Alvarez (12), Ashley Arcila (12), Bianca Baciu (12), Isabelle Ceballos (12), Sooa Chai (12), Alyson Chow (12), Evelyn Ju (12), Mackenzy Jung (12)
Last Season: The cheer competition team placed Top 5 in the varsity show cheer non-tumbling novice medium group division at the United Spirit Association Nationals and Top 10 at CIF.
Although France said some on the team felt disappointed with the outcome, she encouraged them to look on the positive side.
“The girls said, ‘Fifth place is not good,’ but I told them, ‘Hey you guys, not everyone gets a trophy, so the fact that you guys are leaving here with hardware at your very first nationals is huge,’” she said.
Outlook: With one year of experience in their pom poms, the Lady Lancers aim to win a CIF championship by incorporating more advanced stunts. They also plan to build a close relationship by attending team bonding activities.
Flier Chow said although the stunts are more difficult than last year, she is confident that she and her teammates can make the necessary adjustments.
“I am grateful for our coaches not only pushing us to become better, but also believing in us, even when we lose confidence in ourselves,” she said. “That combined with the team dynamic makes me feel good coming into this season.”
France said the team has been practicing after school and doing lots of conditioning to prepare.
“They want to do good,” she said. “Last year, they wanted to do good as well, but now they just know we’ve got to lock in.”
Base Jung, responsible for lifting and supporting the fliers, said she aims to support the team and push for her best performances.
“I feel super pumped for the competition season this year,” she said. “ I would say our cheer team’s goals for this competition season would be perfecting our routines and to better showcase our school spirit.”
Additionally, France agrees that the team has a closer bond this season since the cabinet members on the team have been organizing activities.
“I feel like they are more of a team,” the head coach said. “They’re close, and they communicate better when they’re stunting this year.”
The team will compete Saturday, Jan. 11, in the USA Southern California Regional IV – CHEER event at Yorba Linda High School.
