Taking the floor at the Division 3 CIF San Diego Competition at Carlsbad High School, the Competition Cheer team jumped straight into stunts and loud chants, waiting for the first note of a remixed version of “Shut Up and Drive” by Rihanna to cue their routine. All of their hard work from the last three months led up to these two minutes; on the mat, their fast-paced choreography, strong stunts, and complex tumbling passes were a cohesive display of their dedication to the craft. Bella Weilhammer-Emory (12) said the team’s high energy could be attributed to the adrenaline, invoked by the anxious excitement of having one shot.
“When I’m on stage, I get a lot of nerves but it eventually turns into adrenaline,” Weilhammer-Emory said. “It begins to not even feel tiring because of how excited I get, and since everyone gets that same adrenaline, the energy on the mat is different from anything I’ve ever experienced.”
The competition was judged on how the stunts were performed, the sharp execution of their movements, and the team’s overall energy and volume. Charlotte Long (11) said that the Westview cheer squad gained many points due to their vocal projection.
“Our cheer was our strongest area throughout because it was really loud and energetic,” Long said. “It went really smoothly throughout.”
According to Long, the team also did well on their stunts, incorporating harder lifts than what is normally done during sideline cheer, such as lib-ticks: a type of stunt that requires the flyer to balance on one leg and switch to the other while in the air. Weilhammer-Emory said that the stunts took a lot of practice to perfect, but the team built up their skills over time.
“It took a while for us to get our stunts down, as many team members had never stunted before since there were girls from both JV and varsity [sideline cheer],” Weilhammer-Emory said. “We eventually pulled through and became confident enough in our skills to perform them.”
The team also had to overcome the obstacle of new people joining and leaving in the middle of the season. Despite the challenge of reworking parts of their routine, the squad stayed positive and successfully worked through any issues.
“We had some people leave the team mid-season and we had to bring in new people,” Alysa Lutz (12), said. “This made things difficult as we had to change the stunt groups a lot, however, everyone was very flexible with the changes and everything ended up working out.”
To perfect their routine, the team worked step-by-step, beginning by choreographing and learning their stunts. After a few weeks, they began rehearsing the dance number and the cheer. By the last two weeks of practice, the team was training with maximum effort throughout every element of the piece as if they were performing for the judging panel.
According to Lutz, the team’s energy and preparation for the competition was beneficial to their performance at CIFs, as it helped boost their overall morale.
“The spirited energy from our team made us all feel very confident and excited during our performance,” said Lutz.
Westview was up against four other schools, all of which performed two-minute routines. Long said that this was a drastic change from sideline cheer.
“During sideline, we do a variety of cheers, but we also have a lot of breaks,” she said. “The hardest part about [competition cheer] is that everything is done in two minutes of performing, so it takes a lot of endurance to be as clean and sharp as you can, even though you’re tired.”
Despite their strength and determination, the team did not place. However, Weilhammer-Emory said she was satisfied with the team’s growth and support for each other, especially toward the end of the season.
“Although our routine wasn’t perfect, it was our personal best and had some of the best energy I’ve ever felt,” Weilhammer-Emory said. “During our practice the night before the competition, there was something in the air that made everybody put their all into the team and work harder than we ever had before. We hit some of our best routines that night. It was like everything just clicked.”
