From Staff Reports
St. Patrick's Day brought its traditional luck to the Competition Cheer Team on March 17, as they placed second at their competition against William Fleming and Staunton River.
The rest of the district competed the preceding week because competitions had to be spread out due to COVID-19. Every team was judged by the same panel regardless of when they competed.
"The ADs (athletic directors) decided to use that set-up to try to be safer," said Marsha Lopez, Varsity Cheer Coach.
The Eagles scored 229 points out of 300, only missing first place by 1.5 points.
"We had no technical deductions," Lopez commented. "We were all very excited about our performance even before we saw the scores, especially considering how far we [had] come since [the previous week]."
Lopez said the team did struggle with a particular stunt due to the advanced nature of the moves. But, she said, the Lady Eagles still persevered.
"My girls refused to give up and just continued to practice diligently until they could get it," she added.
Lopez explained how this hard work paid off, as she believes cheer portion of the routine was particularly strong.
"We were loud and spirited, and we had great crowd involvement, which was amazing considering only William Fleming fans were allowed to attend," she said. "They were so supportive and cheered so much when we were performing, and it really boosted our confidence and spirit! Also all of our girls were able to throw their most advanced tumbling passes, so that helped our scores quite a bit!"
Still, she saw a few items that need adjusting.
"We really need to work on perfecting the routine and cleaning it up, especially the synchronization of our stunts and jumps," Lopez said. "We have the big elements down--we just need to add those little things that will make us stand out!"
The squad's next competition is March 24 at William Byrd where it will compete for the District Championship.