Junior Lillie Smotherman, an enthusiastic varsity cheerleader performed the bolt, a 360 degree backflip tumbling pass, alongside her cheer team during their regional competition on Saturday, Sept. 21. She was very proud of her team and the team placed second in their division, and fifth place out of over 50 total cheer squads competing.
Due to the immense amount of hours the varsity cheerleading squad practices together for the team grows a very close bond. This creates confidence in each other’s abilities within the team. From the regional, the team had immaculate scores, with a difficulty only .2 points less than the max potential, and achieved a 98 score, missing only around ~3 points, in very close standing to the previous year’s state champs: Jackson High School.
Since her arm injury last year caused her to miss the September 2023 cheer competition, senior Alana Rittgers was excited to compete and be with her team for her final year. She also is proud of her cheer mates, and her determination is set on the state competition on Nov. 2 to overtake Jackson and win the championship.
“Being able to actually compete this year just felt really rewarding for me, and having that be my competition that I got to come back in on, felt really rewarding,” Rittgers said. “I’m excited for state. I’m excited to go represent FHC, and I’m excited to potentially bring home a state championship. I really think we can do it. So, I’m ready.”
Meanwhile, Smotherman was nervous at first during the competition but after landing her tumbling routine the negative feelings vanished.
“It felt great because I get really scared to throw it sometimes. So when I did throw it, I saw the crowd, and how the crowd reacted, they started screaming for me, so it was really cool. And I looked at [Coach McDevitt] and she was cheering for me. So it felt really good.”
It’s clear Coach McDevitt pushes the team to be its very best. While Smotherman was excited but nervous, senior Erin McGrath was very focused.
“I felt pretty calm during the competition. I was sure of our stunts and our team. I didn’t feel worried about anything not hitting or anything falling. So I felt pretty collected going out to the mat, confident,” McGrath said.
In fact, there were no falls, and achieving a stellar score and missing only around ~3 points is an impressive feat, so McGrath’s trust in the team was well placed. Rittgers explains how the routine this year is much harder than last year, and how the outlook for their state performance is much better because of the team’s cleanliness so far.
“It felt really amazing to hear that we could hit that.Knowing we can hit everything cleanly, and we have two months to sharpen it up, we can and we will put on an amazing performance at state,” Rittgers said.
Despite the positive outlook for her last state competition, it is Rittger’s last year, and she feels sad because of it
“I’m trying to soak it all in. I’m aware of the fact that these are my last, but I haven’t had that emotional feeling of like, this is my last, and I don’t know if I will until later in the season,” Rittgers said.
Likewise, McGrath feels stressed as she contemplates cheerleading in college.
“It’s kind of sad that this is the last year, but it’s making me feel a little bit more encouraged to try and cheer at college, even though it feels last minute. So it’s putting a little bit stress on that,” McGrath said.
Smotherman is proud of what the team has accomplished up to this point, and what heights the team is yet to reach.
“I’m just really excited, and I’m really proud of my team, and we worked really hard to get to where we are,” Smotherman said.
