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Raising up a black an orange sign with the letter ‘S,’ Melody Nielsen shouts as she is being held by Katelyn Wiley ’27, Amelia Williams ’27, and Emery Stevens ’27. Their surrounding teammates supported each other by uplifting each other’s spirits before and after their performance. “My motto is fake it ‘til you make it,” Nielsen said. “Even though I’m really nervous beforehand and during, I still try to make sure that I keep myself in the moment and that I’m able to do my part throughout the routine so I can be the best cheerleader I can be.”
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Shouting passionately, Emery Stevens ’27 chants with the rest of her team. Before they went on stage, the girls supported each other warmly. “We like to pray a lot before high stakes competitions like this one,” Stevens said.
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Throwing her arms back, Kate Ortego ’27 smiles confidently as she does her part of the routine. They ended their routine with vigor and enthusiasm, gaining loud cheers from the audience. “To stay focused, I just tell myself that I need to do my best and no matter what happens that I have to keep going,” Ortego said. “I just want to make my team proud and continue on with a smile my face despite whatever may happen.”
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Holding her pom poms in the air, Delaney Johnson ’26 poses in front of the judges. Once the cheerleaders completed the first part of their routine, they got into proper position for the next part. “Sometimes we do have hard practices but having my team with me to push through them makes the pressure a lot easier to handle,” Johnson said. “I know that no matter what happens, my team will still be standing right behind me and therefore no matter the outcome.”
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Lifting their arms straight into the air, Aliya Yu ’27, Anna Bruce ’27, and Lauren Patterson ’26 yell in unison. From arriving to the Fort Worth Convention Center to performing at the arena, the cheerleaders carried each other in positivity, reminding each other to stay focused and smile. “I make sure that I’m always there for the team and that we’re always communicating,” Patterson said.
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Smiling brightly, Lauren Patterson ’26 does her part of the routine, having memorized every step. “When there’s a lot of adrenaline, I just remind my team that we’ve been working for this for months and that they know what to do,” Patterson said.
In the Fort Worth Convention Center, the arena quickly filled with screams of excitement and pride from the parents who came to support their children who would be competing against all other cheer teams throughout the state. Eager to dominate their competition, the cheerleaders grabbed their pom poms and wore their best smiles as they performed in front of the judges at the UIL Spirit State Championship on Saturday, Jan. 17.
Since the beginning of the school year, the cheerleaders have been practicing every week, memorizing their routine to inevitably compete at UIL. On the day of the competition, leaders of the team made an effort to motivate the rest of their team before going up in front of the judges on stage.
“When there’s a lot of adrenaline I just remind my team that we’ve been working for this for months and that they know what to do,” Game Day Leader Lauren Patterson ‘26 said. “If they do it with confidence then they can do it perfectly.”
In order to allow their minds to appreciate the present moment, the team motivated each other by spreading collective positivity, sharing happy moments, and making new joyful memories with each other while they waited for their turn to compete.
“Instead of focusing on the outcome, what I do is just tell myself I’m excited and trust that everyone is going to do their best because we want what’s best for the team,” Amelia Williams ‘27 said. “It’s hard to stay present and it’s easy to be stressed about where we’re going to place, but we’re getting better every year and we’ve worked so hard for the competition and knowing that makes me feel better about our performance.”
Once they finished getting ready, the Warriors moved on to warm ups to practice their routine that had beenmemorized by heart. During the final moments of anticipation leading up to the main event, some of the Warriors practiced small, special rituals to solidify their confidence in themselves and trust in one another.
“We like to pray a lot before high stakes competitions like this one,” Emery Stevens ‘27. “A lot of us are really strong in our faith and it boosts our confidence to know that the Lord is with us and is going to help us get through this and be our strongest.”
After performing in front of the judges for the qualifying round, the cheer team was allowed time for leisure with their families to relieve themselves from post-show stress. Shortly after, the girls returned to the convention center to prepare for the big results determining if they made it to the finals. After anxiously waiting for their results, the Warriors did not place in the top 20 schools chosen by the judges in their division, determining that they would not move on to finals.
“I’m relieved that it’s over but at the moment [of the performance] I was very jittery and I was feeling a lot of emotions that I can’t explain,” Melody Nielsen ‘27 said. “ I’m really happy that none of our stunts fell and I’m trying to stay positive.”
