By Rachel Balls, Gabi Carter, Rachel Morrin

Preparing for Cheer Competitions

Cheerleaders at MHS are known for the cheers they perform at football and basketball games. Many people don’t realize that the cheer team participates in competitions starting in January, going through March and ending with the state competition. Training for competitions start early in the school year and take most of the preparation time at practices.

During most of the basketball season the cheer team is busy performing at both basketball games and competing at competitions.

“Basketball games are like our practice almost, seeing how we do in front of a crowd. At competitions we are judged by actual judges and they give us scores and tell us what to do better. They are kind of like the real deal,”  Senior Hannah Moore said.

MHS cheer is very ambitious at competitions and their placing shows it. Last year they placed 3rd overall at the state cheer competition. A lot of preparation goes into placing well. They have to work together as a group and individually to reach their goals.

“Individually you just kinda go through it in your head like the routine and make sure you know all the counts and all the steps, like just preparing your body for it because it’s like very like really exhausting,” Sophomore Samantha Clark said.

Cheering at games is different than competing at competitions. No matter where or what they’re doing, they try their hardest to come together as a team and perform their best.

“I like games but I like competition more because we come together as a team and we give it all we got, and we just do the best that we can and even if our best wasn’t the best. It’s still like the team came together and we worked really hard for it, so I think competition,” Sophomore Samantha Clark said.

Cheerleaders work hard and put in a lot of effort towards their performances. Come support MHS cheer at their upcoming competition January 21, starting at 8am at Madison High School.

Preparing for Dance Competitions

The Madison Bobcadettes are a well known drill team in the district. Competitions may not seem anything out of the ordinary for some of the team members, but there’s actually a lot of hard work and preparation that goes into getting ready for the competition. The MHS dance team not only performs at sporting events, but also competes around the same time every year.

It takes consistent daily preparation to perform well in dance competitions. MHS dance team practice every morning starting in August and going through March.

“Preparing for competitions is hard, but when we work together and all cooperate as a team, we can help each other and all have a good time and do good together,” Junior Symphony Hammond said.

Competing can be very stressful. Working together with your team is a big part of competitions, but having fun is also very important.

“It’s fun to compete and be with the team all day. When you’re friends with the girls it’s easier to be with the and work with the team and you can have a lot of fun,” Junior Erica Anderson said.

The MHS Bobcadettes have an upcoming competition Jan 20-Jan 21. Come encourage the team to bring Madison another title.