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Leg wrapped in glow tape, Lexi Laughlin ’26 and the SunDancers perform a hip-hop routine. The SunDancers took advantage of the blacklights to decorate their white hoodie uniform with colorful letters and shapes.
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Poms at her side, Lauren Patterson ’26 readies herself to link arms with the rest of the formation during the cheer routine. A group stunt featuring a 180-degree turn was the highlight of the team’s routine.
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Shouting out, Lucy Allison ’26 and Warrior Pride encourage students in the crowd to cheer. The Warrior Pride performance followed a round of athletes calling for support at upcoming games.
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Moving her pom to point to one section of pep rally attendees, Lauren Patterson ’26 and the cheer team encourage loud chanting from the crowd. Coach Travis Dalrymple and the team aimed to hype up the crowd before turning on the blacklights.
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Arms clasped upwards, Aliya Yu ’27 prepares for a straddle jump. Due to the darkness of the blacklight pep rally, the cheer team opted for simpler stunts throughout the routine to avoid injury.
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Decked out in neon tape, Ava Fakhar ’26 pivots during the Warrior Pride dance. During multiple performances from the dance teams, cheering students in the crowd showed their support by waving phone flashlights.
Bright blacklights in the dimmed main gym lit up student costumes and neon clothing, setting a ghostly mood at the annual blacklight pep rally on Friday, Oct. 31. With a mix of performances and a new student-led game, the last pep rally of the calendar year aimed to garner support for various sports teams in a transitional season.
“[The pep rally] had pretty good energy and will help us prepare for the football game today [by] keeping our team spirit and momentum up,” varsity football player Travis Halla ‘27 said.
The event started with Coach Travis Dalrymple and the cheer team hyping up both sides of the crowd before turning on the blacklights. The cheer team followed with a brief performance in the dark, sporting bright yellow vests.
“We practiced with the lights off [to prepare],” cheerleader Lauren Patterson ‘26 said. “We usually do simpler stunts because we don’t want to lose our feet in the air, but it’s not that much harder since the blacklights are bright.”
After a routine round of shout-outs for the football, basketball, and wrestling teams, the crowd applauded an upbeat routine from Warrior Pride. Continuing the energy, a drum-off between seniors Carter Smith and Sandali Gangwar — a new student performance — invigorated the crowd. Subsequently, the SunDancers, decked out in neon tape and glowsticks, showcased one of their hip-hop routines.
“We [performed] this piece at the Homecoming pep rally and again today, [and] have been practicing for two weeks to clean the dance and make sure we’re all in unison,” SunDancer Suhaani Srireddy ‘26 said. “It can be a little hard to find your spacing because it’s dark, but it’s a really unique experience and we have a really good time doing it.”
Afterward, Coach Dalrymple called several football players to the floor to explain a new game. Players formed teams of three to four and raced to successfully stack six large, cardboard dice the fastest.
“[The cheer team] made all the dice on Wednesday night, [which] took us three hours,” Patterson said. “There were different colors of dice. I was on the yellow team, and the pink team won.”
With the fall sports season coming to a close, this pep rally marks the last one of the semester and a foreword for the winter basketball and wrestling seasons. The next pep rally will take place at the start of the second semester next year on Friday, Jan. 30.
“The blacklight [pep rally] is always my favorite [because] we get to dress up in neon,” Patterson said. “It was pretty hype.”
