On Friday, Feb. 20, Sunny Hills cheer ended its season at the USA Spirit Nationals cheer competition in Anaheim, California. 

The team placed seventh in the USA National Cheer Competition in the Varsity Show Cheer Novice Non-Tumbling Small division, providing a rewarding close to the season, Monet Taylor, varsity cheer’s head coach said.

Taylor said that she is proud of the team’s performance despite the team not making it to the second day of the competition.   

“I think they did so well; I thought they were gonna make it,” Taylor said. “I think they did a really good job at applying what we like, the feedback we got from the judges from the last competitions … they improved a hundredfold.” 

The coach said that the team made gains in all categories, including stunts, cheer, jumps, pyramids and dance, but made the most significant improvements in their jump and cheer routines after listening to the judges’ past feedback. 

“We put in a lot of preparation leading up to the competition,” said senior Larissa Vasquez, one of the team’s main bases. “We practiced every day, even waking up early the morning of the competition to get extra reps in; with physical practice, we had many team talks that helped build our confidence, focus and unity.”

In her second year on varsity, Vasquez said she feels the team’s encouragement and creation of a supportive environment motivated her and lifted the team’s spirits, guiding them to success. 

“Our main goal was to make it to day two [even though] we missed it by only 0.1 points, we were still proud of how much we’ve improved as a team,” the senior said. “We are excited about the progress we’ve made and motivated to keep growing.”

What helped lead the team to victory was their overall communication, ability to hit their stunts and being prepared for anything that came their way, side base junior Sarina Desai said.

“When you’re on a national stage, it’s extremely nerve-racking because there are so many judges and so many people watching you and wanting you to fall and wanting you to make a mistake so that your points go down,” Desai said.  

Despite not making it to the final round, the junior said she is proud of the team for reaching an all-time high placement for the SH cheer program. 

“I think our team killed it; we did good with what [practice] we had,” she said. “When nerves come to play, no one really knows what could happen in our 2:30 routine, [so] I’m proud of them.”

Even though the competition’s outcome did not go completely as the Lady Lancers wished, Taylor said she is pleased with the team’s performance regardless and felt they gave their best.  

“This is only our third year competing, and they’re at the top of their category with teams that have been doing this for years, so I’m very proud of them,” the head coach said.