Sophie Cortes
As one of the most complicated stunts they perform, the Cheerleading team stacks on top of one another forming a pyramid with a Westwood ‘W’. “The pyramid was challenging because we had to put a lot of faith in each other to be able to throw Audri Moreno ‘27 high enough so she wouldn't hit Mia Zell ‘28 while flying over,” Cheerleader Jenna Hallidy ‘25 said. Although this new advanced routine heavily challenged the cheerleaders, they persevered to make the Pep Rally a success.
After practicing their complicated daily routines this past week, the Cheerleading team proudly displayed their hard work at the USA-themed Pep Rally on Friday, Sept. 20.
In preparation for celebrating USA pride at the Pep Rally, the Cheer team practiced new and unique stunts to excite the audience. They were determined to give a show-stopping performance.
“The newest part would be the basket throws we did at the beginning of our routine,” base Giada Scaramuzza ‘25 said. “They are a super fun skill that the crowd likes, so I am super excited to use them! They have higher crowd engagement, and are overall really fun to watch.”
The final routine left the cheerleaders proud of their collective teamwork in making their performance a reality. Their daily practice allowed them to perform more advanced stunts than before, leaving a lasting impression on the audience.
“I loved this pep rally routine,” cheerleader Zoe Gray ‘25 said. “We got to show off a lot of our skills and perform more advanced stunts than we have done before. The routine was super fun to perform and my favorite stunt was our toe-touch basket toss. Unfortunately not all of our stunts hit this time but I’m proud of all our hard work and improvement.”
The Pep Rally performance called for more advanced stunts compared to previous shows, including a pyramid forming in the shape of a W, to conclude their routine. Although challenging for the cheerleaders, they had faith in one another, leading to a successful show that exhilarated their audience.
“A lot of stuff was getting changed around but we were able to preserve and remained very encouraging of one another which was amazing to be a part of,” Jenna Hallidy ‘25 said.
An obstacle in their rehearsal process was a short timeframe as they only had a few chances to come together and work on the piece. With this limited amount of time to prepare for the routine, the cheerleaders worked well under pressure to make this routine memorable.
“I wish we had more time to prepare for this routine,” Gray said. “We really only had one practice to learn and finalize most of the routine so it was very last minute. This hurt the routine’s overall look because we didn’t have enough time to perfect and clean the skills we performed.”
However, despite the challenges throughout the week, the team remained calm under pressure by resorting back to their technique and muscle memory. The cheer team will hit the mat again as they spend the next few weeks preparing for their homecoming pep rally routine on Wednesday, Oct. 16.