On Friday, Feb. 2, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School competitive cheerleading team made their debut at the FHSAA State Championship, at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida. The team placed second out of 10 teams, putting on great performances all season long.
In the previous two seasons, MSD took third place at the state championships, with ten teams in their division of small non-tumbling. Prior to this competition, the team had to compete at regionals held at Coral Glades High School a week before. They then qualified from there to compete at the states.
The team had its first performance at 3:56 p.m. and then waited to find out if their routine made it to the finals. After qualifying for the next round, the Eagles would perform one last time for the crowd and judges. The Eagles advanced to finals from this performance.
“We really did well at states, we hit our routine and I was proud of our performance,” junior Cayley Clemo said. “We definitely did our jobs this season.”
The Eagles went on stage and performed for the very last time for the 2023-2024 season. This brought them to winning runner ups at the 2024 FHSAA state championships.
“Where this team started in the beginning of the season to what they did at states shows all the hard work we put in,” freshman Saniya Cole said.
The cheer team practiced Monday through Thursday after school from 3-5 p.m. Sometimes the team would get together to practice on Fridays to be more prepared before competitions. As states approached, practices ran longer.
“Practices include full-out run throughs, cleaning of specific sections in the routine,” Cheer Coach Ashley Bravo said.
The team also has camps and clinics that are attended during the summer, in July, before the school year begins. Coaches Patti Thompson and Bravo put hard work and dedication into coaching the team.
“We run a very structured practice that mimics our competition preparation, so the team feels comfortable on competition day,” Bravo said.
Although the Eagles had an outcome they are proud of at the state competition, there always have been tough spots and miscues but they had to work even harder to overcome these obstacles. when practicing and preparing for the last run.
“There are always struggles as you near states,” Bravo said. “We hadn’t hit our routine full-out until later in the season, which is something neither Thompson nor I have experienced as a coach. We also had multiple athletes that were sick.”
Nevertheless, the Eagles came together, put their eye on the prize and earned a placement they have worked for all season. Following the conclusion of the competition, the 2023-2024 season had officially reached its end.
Tryouts for the competitive cheer teams upcoming season take place at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year in August. The MSD cheer team concluded the season with the accomplishment of making it to the states, and they are proud of all their accomplishments throughout the season.
