October 26, 2019 at 05:01AM
The seniors on the Lamar cheer team made a promise after winning a state championship when they were freshmen: no matter what, win one again as seniors.
As sophomores and juniors, the Lady Raiders fell just short of a title, and after tryouts in March, the group of captains Madison Norris and Alexa Carle, along with fellow seniors Bell Long, Katelyn Rainey and Demia Bland, decided that promise as freshmen wasn't going by the wayside.
A few changes were made within the Lamar cheer squad this year. After helping out as an assistant coach in previous seasons, Leslie Carruth took over as head coach, and the girls decided to compete in the Game Day cheer division instead of the Traditional division like in years past.
On Wednesday in Jackson, the Lady Raiders swept at the state cheer meet, as the varsity won first place in the MAIS Class 4A Cheer Game Day division, while the junior varsity won first place in the Classes 3A and 4A Cheer Game Day division. Not only did the seniors keep their promise, but all 34 girls were part of a state championship in their respective competitions.
"It was complete satisfaction," Carruth said. "I was overjoyed, not just for the 15 girls on the varsity team and the 19 on the junior varsity team, but for our school. I've been watching them go to state so many times and fall short, so getting it was like the cherry on a sundae."
The team practiced its routine at a pep rally last Friday, Oct. 18, and did the routine again on Monday before Carruth gave the girls a day off to clear their heads. Rainey said that day off was helpful and didn't throw their routine off in any way.
"We ran the routine every day for two to three months before (state), so by that point it's muscle memory," Rainey explained.
Despite the stakes, none of the girls were nervous leading up to the routine.
"It's been harder on us in the past, when we had to learn the routine only the week before," Long said.
Said Bland, "Traditional was harder, so we were more prepared. I've been cheering for four years, and this is the most we've ever worked on one routine, so it was easy for us to put together."
The cheer routine, which included crowd involvement, band chants, the school's fight song and stunts, required a lot of endurance that the girls were able to build up by working on the routine for so long. Once their school's name was called as being the state champions in 4A, Carle said the moment instantly became a cherished memory.
"We were all so overjoyed," Carle said. "We stood up and were screaming and hugging each other. It was great getting the feeling off our shoulders — it was a relief after all the hard work. We said our freshmen year (after we won state) that we hoped it wouldn't take until our senior year to win it again, and it did."
Norris said winning as a senior was special, not just because they kept their promise from three years ago, but that they got to enjoy the experience with everyone else on the team.
"It was weird, because we had never been the oldest group before this year, so we wanted the best and wanted to give our best," Norris said. "I'm so glad we ended on this note."
Ninth grader Emily Hannington, who is on the JV team, said no matter how many times they had to practice the routine, it never became monotonous.
"There was always something to work on, always room for improvement," Hannington said.
Fellow ninth grader Libby Newell said the hard work they put in is what made the championship so rewarding.
"It means a lot," Newell said. "We tried so hard to place and win, and we worked so hard and practiced every day. Every Wednesday our choreographer would come from Jackson and pointed out more things to work on."
It wasn't just working on a state cheer routine that kept the Lady Raiders busy, however. In addition to cheering at varsity and junior varsity football games, other activities included participating in pep rallies and halftime routines, and the varsity squad provides snacks to the football players during halftime at games. Sometimes, they'd be at the school as late as nightfall working on the state routine.
"We couldn't have done it without Mrs. Carruth," Bland said.
For Carruth, the biggest reward was watching the growth in her girls from March until this past Wednesday.
"Everything we kept saying, they did it," Carruth said. "That's what was so satisfying as a coach. You watch 34 girls who grew so much from tryouts to now, and these girls are leaders not just on the sideline but inside and outside the school."
Despite the many long hours, all the girls insisted they had fun doing everything this year, and the seniors expressed hope the positive experience would carry over into the 2020-21 school year.
The seniors on the Lamar cheer team made a promise after winning a state championship when they were freshmen: no matter what, win one again as seniors.
As sophomores and juniors, the Lady Raiders fell just short of a title, and after tryouts in March, the group of captains Madison Norris and Alexa Carle, along with fellow seniors Bell Long, Katelyn Rainey and Demia Bland, decided that promise as freshmen wasn't going by the wayside.
A few changes were made within the Lamar cheer squad this year. After helping out as an assistant coach in previous seasons, Leslie Carruth took over as head coach, and the girls decided to compete in the Game Day cheer division instead of the Traditional division like in years past.
On Wednesday in Jackson, the Lady Raiders swept at the state cheer meet, as the varsity won first place in the MAIS Class 4A Cheer Game Day division, while the junior varsity won first place in the Classes 3A and 4A Cheer Game Day division. Not only did the seniors keep their promise, but all 34 girls were part of a state championship in their respective competitions.
"It was complete satisfaction," Carruth said. "I was overjoyed, not just for the 15 girls on the varsity team and the 19 on the junior varsity team, but for our school. I've been watching them go to state so many times and fall short, so getting it was like the cherry on a sundae."
The team practiced its routine at a pep rally last Friday, Oct. 18, and did the routine again on Monday before Carruth gave the girls a day off to clear their heads. Rainey said that day off was helpful and didn't throw their routine off in any way.
"We ran the routine every day for two to three months before (state), so by that point it's muscle memory," Rainey explained.
Despite the stakes, none of the girls were nervous leading up to the routine.
"It's been harder on us in the past, when we had to learn the routine only the week before," Long said.
Said Bland, "Traditional was harder, so we were more prepared. I've been cheering for four years, and this is the most we've ever worked on one routine, so it was easy for us to put together."
The cheer routine, which included crowd involvement, band chants, the school's fight song and stunts, required a lot of endurance that the girls were able to build up by working on the routine for so long. Once their school's name was called as being the state champions in 4A, Carle said the moment instantly became a cherished memory.
"We were all so overjoyed," Carle said. "We stood up and were screaming and hugging each other. It was great getting the feeling off our shoulders — it was a relief after all the hard work. We said our freshmen year (after we won state) that we hoped it wouldn't take until our senior year to win it again, and it did."
Norris said winning as a senior was special, not just because they kept their promise from three years ago, but that they got to enjoy the experience with everyone else on the team.
"It was weird, because we had never been the oldest group before this year, so we wanted the best and wanted to give our best," Norris said. "I'm so glad we ended on this note."
Ninth grader Emily Hannington, who is on the JV team, said no matter how many times they had to practice the routine, it never became monotonous.
"There was always something to work on, always room for improvement," Hannington said.
Fellow ninth grader Libby Newell said the hard work they put in is what made the championship so rewarding.
"It means a lot," Newell said. "We tried so hard to place and win, and we worked so hard and practiced every day. Every Wednesday our choreographer would come from Jackson and pointed out more things to work on."
It wasn't just working on a state cheer routine that kept the Lady Raiders busy, however. In addition to cheering at varsity and junior varsity football games, other activities included participating in pep rallies and halftime routines, and the varsity squad provides snacks to the football players during halftime at games. Sometimes, they'd be at the school as late as nightfall working on the state routine.
"We couldn't have done it without Mrs. Carruth," Bland said.
For Carruth, the biggest reward was watching the growth in her girls from March until this past Wednesday.
"Everything we kept saying, they did it," Carruth said. "That's what was so satisfying as a coach. You watch 34 girls who grew so much from tryouts to now, and these girls are leaders not just on the sideline but inside and outside the school."
Despite the many long hours, all the girls insisted they had fun doing everything this year, and the seniors expressed hope the positive experience would carry over into the 2020-21 school year.