On Feb. 9 through 12 in Orlando, Florida, cheerleaders competed at Nationals and achieved first place in their division out of over 1,000 cheer teams. 

“We had a lot bigger expectations for ourselves [than] when we went to state,” Ashlyn Grass 24’ said. “Nationals was all over the country, so we had no idea how we were going to do.”

Cheerleaders say they continued to put in great amounts of time and effort into their routine to perfect it even after state.

“In school, we would practice every day from 7th period to 4:30 or 3 p.m.,” Grass said. 

Performing on such an important stage can be a taxing experience on one’s nerves, and these emotions can make things complicated.

“It’s an overwhelming feeling of adrenaline,” Grass said. “As soon as you’re done, it feels so amazing knowing you worked so hard and performed to the best of your abilities.”

Though nerves can be overwhelming throughout such an exciting experience, their coaches helped them through it.

“Our coaches always stay positive,” Grass said, “and they give us speeches before to ease our nerves. They are a huge help to make sure we do our best.”

Before the scores were announced, the team kept it together by being encouraging and supportive.

“We tried to stay as positive as possible. We knew that no matter what, we were happy with what we had performed,” Grass said. “The moments before announcing the winners were scary, but we had come to the conclusion that we did the best that we could.”

Luckily for the team, winning first place in Florida came with its own reward.

“They kept Hollywood Studios open until 1 a.m.,” Grass said. “We got to be there basically the whole night.”

The team plans to make a repeat of their season next year, improving and delivering to an even higher level. 

“The practices are going to be really hard,” Grass said, “but it’s worth it in the end.”