Cheering and Danc ng Through N A T I O N A L S

This is the year of champions. Both the dance and cheer teams are national champions for their 2021-2022 season.

BY KATELYN POWERS

The cheer team are reigning three-time UCA national champions and nine-time KHSAA state champions.

Junior Cierra Hermann has been cheering on the team for three years, although she has won nationals in the past with her middle school team, she claims it’s still as exciting as the first time. “It’s just pure euphoria when they call out second place and you realize that you just won. You just feel so proud of what you’ve done because you work so hard all year for this one goal and knowing that you’ve met it is such a satisfying feeling,” Hermann said. The girls are hoping to continue their streak and be four-time UCA national champions next year.

As the girls strive to defend their title, Hermann is looking forward to next year and what the team has in store, “It’s a lot of pressure being that we’ve won 3 times, and since next year is my senior year. I’m looking forward to being a senior because it’s going to be so much fun getting to lead and do a lot of team bonding, along with doing a harder routine,”

As the season comes to an end, Hermann recalls this year as a “great season.”

The dance team is now XDX national champions and KHSAA state champions in the JV Jazz division.

As the team has only won nationals once before this season, sophomore Calleigh Pugh feels lucky to be part of that record, especially with this being her first year on the team. “It feels nice because we’ve worked really hard this year. I think we’ve come a long way since the beginning of the season. It means a lot to me because I have learned a lot of new things,” Pugh said. Being on the second team in dance team history to win nationals is a big accomplishment to Pugh, although it wasn’t in person.

Although their nationals were virtual, Pugh recalls it as a strange but fun experience. “I thought the competition was a little strange because I’ve never done a virtual competition before. But it was nice at the same time, because we weren’t as pressured since it wasn’t in front of an audience and I felt that I could be more relaxed because it was in the studio,” Pugh said. Pugh feels that she is more at ease when she is in the studio because she is with a team that she loves and is comfortable with.

As the team consisted of only five people this year, Pugh looks forward to seeing more people join and grow the team next year. “I love the team as a whole, and it’s a great opportunity to meet new people. As hard as we work, practices are still fun at the same time and I feel like everyone can be themselves together, and it’s nice to have people like that,” Pugh said. Having a close bond with her team is something that is extremely important to her.

Pugh feels this has been “a very memorable season” and she is looking forward to another successful year for the dance team.

Spirit of the game.

Our student section, the Red Zone Rowdies, is one of the biggest sources of school spirit that we have.

A great student section works hard to create an environment that creates some amazing memories for everyone involved. This includes the actual players on the court and field that the Red Zone is there to support. Overall, the work that not only the leaders, but the Red Zone as a whole does pays off by making a great student section.

One of the things the Red Zone works hard to maintain is making their club a place where you can form great memories. “I really like seeing the turnouts and how successful we are as a Red Zone. It’s really great to see and just be in the game. It’s hard to describe why, but it’s just a great environment,” senior Red Zone Leader Tyler Bass said. It is not hard to see how this is reflected in the way that the students act. As a bystander, watching the Red Zone is an experience all in its own. “I go sometimes and I sit between the parents and the Red Zone. And I used to hear, way back, years and years ago, parents go, ‘well, I wish they would sit down,’ ‘well, I wish they would do this,’ ‘I wish they would do that,’ and now, when I go and I do that, I don’t hear that. I hear things like, ‘oh my gosh, I wish I had that when I was in high school,’ ‘oh my gosh, those kids are having so much fun,’’ Red Zone sponsor Jo Perkins said. Showing that parents and students alike enjoy the Red Zone just adds to how positively they impact the community.

Many of the great memories start at the biggest games of the season, such as the girls basketball team and their run at Rupp Arena for state championships. “Everyone was super involved. I’ve never heard the entire school get louder. And we did a bunch of cool stuff, like we painted our chests, it was super fun,” junior Jack Tinelli said. However, games do not have to be quite so high-stakes to create great memories. “This year’s homecoming game, it was one of the more unique things we did, doing the fashion show, and it was the second biggest turnout I’ve ever seen. It was amazing how loud it was and how packed it was, especially after COVID and everything... It was one of our last home games so it just made it feel, like, the whole school environment was really felt that game,” senior Red Zone Leader Carson Bryant said. No matter the occasion, the work that the Red Zone puts into creating that environment helps foster amazing memories that students will hold on to long after they leave the bleachers. “It just all comes back to creating great high school memories because you only get four years, and it should be a happy four years,” Perkins said.

Beyond creating memories for themselves, the support that the Red Zone shows to the school does not go unnoticed. “Coach Couch came up to us after the game and he talked to us about how much he appreciates us and that’s just really what we’re all about. Just helping the teams pull off victories.” Bass said.

The true core of the Red Zone is their work as a student section, making our teams feel important by cheering them on no matter what.

This work doesn’t go unappreciated by the players themselves, either. “It’s good to hear cheers for your team, cheers every once in a while against the ref and the other team just to show your support to whoever is out there, because I’ve heard from multiple people how much it motivates them,” Bryant said. The work that the Red Zone puts in to make their student section as big as it is only makes the payoff from the players even better in the end.

Together, the Red Zone works to create an amazing student section. “I think it just shows that we’re all here for each other, we all want to see the girls basketball team, we all want to see the boy’s basketball team win, and we just wanna see everybody get some, you know everybody eats around here,” Tinelli said. This teamwork environment has paid off for the Red Zone, as they have been recognized countlessly inside and outside of school. For the 2021-2022 school year, they were voted second in a statewide selection of student sections and placed in the top three in a student-voted nationwide competition. “And the class of 2022, to be ranked as highly as they were statewide and to get that kind of recognition on Twitter just makes my heart so happy because they work so hard to create a fun, positive environment and get everybody and the community involved and to meet that and exceed that and get recognized statewide, and then even nationally, that’s pretty awesome. That speaks highly of the leadership from those two years,” Perkins said. The leaders aid the Red Zone in that they help organize themes, decide which games to really promote to the school and post on social media to get the word out about themes, games, cancellations and more.

The leaders of the Red Zone do help with organization, but at the end of the day the Red Zone’s work is almost wholly a team effort. “We’re all just one big group, one big friend group, we’re all in there together, we’re all against another school, another red Zone, another student section. School spirit, and especially the games where we have a big red Zone is just unmatched, it’s one of the most special feelings I’ve ever felt,” Bryant said.

BY: BROOKLYN SAUER AND BRYANT FAUCETT