Normal West Varsity Cheer is working hard this season to make it to the State Competition in the Co-Ed Division, with just over half of their team returning.
In 2022, the Wildcats made it to State in the medium division, but this year they plan to bump up a notch to the co-ed. West used to be in the Co-Ed Division all the time, so it is a “little comeback,” Head Coach Anna Peterson stated.
Coaches Lillian Givens and Anna Peterson have been working with West cheerleaders for 2 years now. Givens was a volunteer last year, with this being her first year as a paid coach, and Peterson is in her second year.
Their season technically started in May with tryouts. As soon as tryouts ended, the team began putting together their choreography for competition season. Captains, junior Ava Hensley, senior Makayla Campbell, and junior Alayna Geraty lead the team and work behind the scenes to make clean routines.
On their own time, these captains make new cheers for the team to use. “I call them my first line of defense,” Peterson said.
Along with Hensley, Campbell, and Geraty, the whole group of Wildcats are determined and dead set to go to State again this year. “They have definitely grown a lot as a team,” Givens noted.
The senior group of the team is small, but they hold the team accountable and stay together. “They are just a big family that hangs out outside of the gym,” Givens said.
Not only is Varsity Cheer stepping up this year, but the Junior Varsity program is now able to compete, which they haven’t been able to do years prior. Everyone is excited about this because it gives the girls “an opportunity to experience the cheer world in high school,” Peterson explained.
“Everyone has their own role on the team, even being one big team they are all important,” Coach Peterson mentioned.
As the cheer competition season approaches, Wildcat Cheer has high hopes.
“Our goal is to be better than last year,” states Givens. These Wildcats will continue to be improving everyday and growing as a team.
Watch out for these determined young girls on their quest for another State Competition appearance!
