Cheerleaders Take It Up A Level

This year STMS cheerleaders took their Wildcat spirit up a level. Not only did they show their spirit on the side lines, cheering on the players, they competed in 2 cheer competitions, participated Cheer4Children, and was recently awarded a $500 community service grant.

“We are extremely proud of our girls this year,” said Coach Dantzler.” We wanted to take our cheer program up a level and we believe we did just that.”

This was the first time STMS cheerleaders competed in a major competition in more than six years. In their 1st competition of the season, the wildcat cheerleaders placed third. That competition was held in October at Northwestern High School. The cheerleaders went up against Columbia’s Dutch Fork Middle School and Gaffney’s Granard Middle School. Dutch Fork placed first and Granard came in second. Saluda Trail missed out on second place by 8 points. Although they didn’t do as well as they wanted at the first completion, Lexi Haggerty, a 7th grade cheerleader said wasn’t extremely disappointed. “I think we did well considering we didn’t have our own mats to practice on,” said Haggerty about her first completion. “I felt good about it, but our stunts didn’t go all the way up.”

Coach Dantzler agreed that the performance wasn’t bad for their first time.“When we looked at our judges sheets, we knew what we had to work on,” said Coach Dantzler. “We knew it wouldn’t take much for us to improve. Coach White analyzed the comments and made some significant changes to our routine. We were determined that by the next time we competed we were going in for the win.”

The coaches said they told the girls that they had what it took to bring back the trophy. The next week the cheerleaders competed at Rock Hill High School. They were up against Granard again and two new teams – Cheraw’s Long Middle School and Lancaster’s South Middle School. Coach White said their hard work paid off, landing them first place.  “The girls worked extremely hard on every aspect of their cheer routine from stunting to tumbling,” said Coach White. “These ladies did a super job!”

The STMS cheerleaders didn’t stop showing their spirit on the competition mats. They participated in the annual Cheer4Children community service event that was held Nov. 8th at South Pointe and were a big hit. They also showed their Wildcat spirit by cheering on the football players at each game.

“I’m glad that we were able to show spirit for our team,” said Carly Spikes, one of the 8th grade cheer captains.

After an outstanding football season, Coach White said the cheerleaders have just recently switched gears to basketball season with new cheers, stunts, and routines.

One of the most exciting things the coaches said they are looking forward to is their new community service project which will be made possible through the Rock Hill Youth Council. The Rock Hill Youth Council awarded STMS cheerleaders with a $500 grant for the project. The Youth Council Grant is a program that encourages, trains, and provides financial supports to young people who are interested in helping their community. The STMS cheerleaders are using their grant to create crafts & memories with local senior citizens. “Our cheerleaders have adopted the senior citizens in Willowbook Crossing Seniors Residence,” said Coach White. “The residences there have a craft room that only consists of a few jigsaw puzzles. The Cheerleaders will be teaching them some new crafts!”

Spikes, who presented the grant proposal to the council on behalf of the cheerleaders, said the cheerleaders need to do more community services projects. “We were the first girls from Saluda Trail to earn a grant from the Youth Council,” Spikes said.

The coaches said Spikes represented STMS well. “Carly did an outstanding job,” said Coach White. “I hope this will be a memorable year for the ladies, as they have showed off their talents and account for all their hard work.”

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STMS cheerleaders enjoyed participating in Cheer4Children.

 

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