For the first time in Niles West history, the varsity cheerleaders made it to State, which will be held on Saturday, Feb. 11 and Sunday, Feb. 12 in Springfield, Illinois.
The girls have been preparing for this moment since right after homecoming, when they got their competition routine together with the help of choreographer Gina Laio, who worked with the girls three times in November. Since then, they have been attending practice every day after school and working on making their routine more challenging in order to gain more points at competition.
Head coach Jessica Olsen is pushing the girls to bring their stunts and pyramids to the next level in order to beat their previous scores of 81.4 out of 100 at past competitions.
“The one team that we’re worried about is Glenbrook North. They’ve beat us in competitions before and it’s usually only by a point or two,” says sophomore Taylor Hoffman, who is a back spot on the squad. Glenbrook North also got 3rd in Conference, which makes them an even tougher competition.
Junior and captain Shelby Rosin has the same hopes as Hoffman.
“[State] is really going to be a team effort. As captain, I try to motivate the team and get them excited. It’s all about staying positive,” said Rosin.
According to Olsen, there will be over 20 teams competing at state and only 20 girls are allowed on the floor at a time. Since this will be the first time that our cheerleaders are competing in State, they are hoping to set a good example for the future of Niles West Cheerleading. Rosin will be helping to keep the team’s spirits high by doing their traditional chant before competitions, and of course, lots of pep talks.
“My biggest hope is to do better than we have been the whole season,” said Rosin.
