Pierce County High School Competition Cheerleaders have their sights set on a 12th consecutive region championship and are hopeful for a state title this season.
The squad has had the privilege of winning 20 Region Championships with 11 titles being consecutive. They have also finished in the top three at the state level since 2009.
Mandy Beverly is in her third year as head coach of the competition cheerleaders.
“I am very excited about this season. The new Region and Classification alignments are a welcomed change for us,” said Beverly.
This year, there are six seniors on the team including Lindy Jane Dyal, Kalan Mills, Katie Jo Mills, Zoie Hendry, Katilyn Sapp and Ansley Tippins.
The squad also includes five freshmen, six sophomores and four juniors.
The girls traveled to ACE Cheer Gym in Birmingham, AL in June to learn their routine for the season. The theme for this year’s routine is “Flight912.” Picked by the seniors and inspired by the well-known movie, Top Gun.
Beverly said that the seniors first pitched the theme idea to her at the pep rally in the park in January.
“I immediately loved their idea to call it Flight912. Each year the themes are unique to that group of girls. They do such a great job at embracing, believing, and living out the meaning behind their chosen themes and that truly is a special thing,” said Beverly.”
This year’s routine includes advanced skills that the girls must execute in order to secure a top score. The routine is maxed out with full degree of difficulty (DOD) in each area of the score sheet. Although the DOD is maxed out, the routine will need to be fully executed which is what they practice to accomplish.
“They are excited about the difficulty, uniqueness, and energy of this year’s routine. The girls have been working all summer on hitting the skills required to receive full execution on the score sheet. They will continue to work throughout the season to keep the successful reputation that this program has,” Coach Beverly says.
The competition cheerleaders kick off their season at 2 p.m. September 14 with a Community Showcase held at the Pierce County Middle School Gym.
The Middle School Competition Cheerleaders will also be doing a showcase that morning.
“Admission is a donation at the door and we would love to see a packed gym. Please come out and support the girls this season,” said Beverly.
