Girls cheerleading looks to defend their winning title heading into competition season, and the team has been training hard in preparation for the MSL championships and State. Last year, the girls cheerleading team had a rocky start at the MSL championships. But they came back strong at Sectionals and managed to steal a spot, being their 8th time qualifying for IHSA State, where they placed 24th.

Many of the girls have worked hard to earn their spot on the varsity squad. Most of them started off on JV and have had dreams of being on the team.

“I started my Sophomore year,” Senior Anna Jackowska said. “I was on JV and I was an alternate for competitive season, ever since then I’ve been on varsity. I dreamed about getting on varsity, you just have to put in all the hard work and dedication to end up being there.”

Although the team did well last year, placing third at both the Stevenson invite and Sectionals, the team struggled at State, placing 24th. In 2015 they were the Conference Champions as well as placing ninth in the state. The team is prepared to do whatever it takes to make it to state again.

“I think it’s very difficult, you’re throwing people up in the air, it’s very competitive, we get hurt a lot plus we practice everyday,” Sophomore Jaynee Borchert said.

After qualifying for IHSA State for eight consecutive years the team continues to work hard so they can get another spot and make a ninth appearance this year and attempt to place higher at State.

“We do put in so much dedication and hard work, we do all these hard skills, we do compete,” Jackowska said. “There’s always potential to get hurt.”

Recently the girls cheerleading squad recently finished cheering at the football games after their loss last Saturday. Now the team can focus wholeheartedly on preparation for their rapidly-approaching competitive season.

Like every team the cheerleading squad has their ups and downs but they try to remain drama and problem free. This allows them to focus on their routines and competition instead of fighting with each other.

“Typically there is no drama. I mean we’re kind of a family, we’re pretty open about our problems with each other,” Junior Natalie Burda said.

No matter what happens this year the cheerleading squad is looking forward to making and keeping friendships from this year and years to come.

“The bonds that you get between the people on the team, it’s a whole group of automatic friends that you learn to love,” Burda said.

The team looks forward to competing, learning new skills and breaking boundaries for the girls cheerleading squad.