Girls’ basketball brings home the state championship, the first in school history

SUSTAINED SPIRIT

A new event to celebrate seniors is introduced to NW cheer and dance

+ by Ruth Demeke + design by Kasi Maniktala

All Spirit Night was a new event introduced to serve as a Senior Night for cheerleaders who didn’t get to have their special moment during basketball season. Working with NW dance, students showed off what they’ve been practicing.

“It’s an event to celebrate and recognize the cheerleaders and the dancers since we didn’t get to as much as we usually do in normal years,” varsity cheerleader Jacy Williams said.

What’s changed the most for cheer this year is that in order to social distance, stunts weren’t allowed. Since this is a big part of cheerleading, some people were disappointed with the restrictions.

“We had a lot of restrictions on us, which I understand, but football and basketball got to play without a mask and we weren’t even allowed to stunt with masks or have all of our team together at basketball games,” varsity cheerleader Sydney Allen said. “I felt that was a little unfair to us.”

Dance team, which used to practice four to five times a week during class, had only one in-person class each week under the hybrid learning model. To accommodate, they practiced on Fridays and during the weekends. Cheer, similarly, had one inperson class each week, however did not meet on the weekends.

“In previous years, we would practice a lot more because we would have more assemblies, games and competitions to go to,” Williams said. “This year, it was just a lot more relaxed and we didn’t spend as much time together as a team.”

With limited time to practice dances and cheers in person, students had to learn from their homes through videos.

“Learning from videos can be very challenging, but I would say that’s how 90% of our year has gone,” Horner said. “It’s like, ‘all right you’re gonna learn this dance from video... Good luck. Hope you have it done by next Tuesday.’”

Looking at the bright side, there have been more student-run opportunities for dancers, including their own choreography.

“Typically the brunt of choreography either falls on my officer team or we pay for outside choreographers,” Horner said. “This year, we didn’t do that and so we’ve had probably three or four opportunities for non-officers to create a dance and teach it to the team.”

COVID-19 restrictions have affected all parts of school including our dance and cheer teams. With teams having to opt out of competitions and a step back from dancing along the marching band, there’s also been new chances for different kinds of events to be showcased.

This year, dancers were to compete in a state championship for the first time. Cheerleaders have competed in a similar event for the past four years. The competition was fully virtual with schools sending in videos to the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA). This year, the competition cheer team placed fifth during the state competition.

“I’m proud of how well we did at state despite not being able to perform with the normal atmosphere that really gets our energy up,” varsity cheerleader Riley Brokeshoulder said.

Although missing out on a regular dance year, Horner is proud of her seniors for staying motivated and pushing through.

“I think that they all have, between the five of them, a consistent commitment level that I have not had in the past,” Horner said. “It’s nice to say you can depend on all five seniors because that’s not always the case.”

Cheer coach Renee Chambers wants to thank the senior cheerleaders for their commitment during a difficult year.

“I always tell the seniors they make the team, that they’re the leaders and they set the tone for the year,” Chambers said.

Varsity dancer Rylie Gunter plans to continue dancing at Ottawa University through a dance scholarship. Gunter, who’s been dancing since she was 3 years old, was able to push through the hard times this year and strives to keep dancing. “I continue dancing because it’s like a safe haven for me,” Gunter said. “Knowing that you can’t be judged based on our skills or how you look because everyone always wants to get better.” Despite missing out on assemblies and 3 competitions, Gunter is proud of her team’s ability to stay committed. “My favorite part of this year is how our team has been able to push through and make it fun for everyone even with the things that we have lost,” Gunter said.

Rylie Gunter

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1. Junior Sophia Brewer sticks an arm out Jan. 30 in the Main Gym. Matching masks were added to the cheerleading uniform this year. “This year we haven’t been able to have as many practices.” Brewer said. “We cannot stunt [because of COVID-19].” +photo by Claire Moore

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2. Seniors Elizabeth Kuffour, Lily Riddell and L’leana Jones leap March 16 in the Main Gym. The dance team tries to socially distance while dancing. “I like being able to still dance with my team throughout these COVID-19 restrictions,” Kuffour said. + photo by Ashley Broils 3. Junior Megan Freeman, and Seniors Riley Gunter and Elizabeth Kuffour leap March 16 in the main gym. Gunter got her scholarship by going to an in person audition. ”College advisors are valuable to the process” Gunter said. “Use them early and often.” +photo by Ashley Broils

Cheerleaders: Bella Alaniz, Alaysah Allen, Sydney Allen, Amber Allison, Riley Brokeshoulder, Nessie Gragg, Reagan Ridgon, Olivia Waren, Madelyn Omanson, Jacy Williams, Mackenzie Masters, Gaby Ruvalcava, Samantha Mudgett Cheer coach: Renee Chambers Dancers: Rylie Gunter, Hadley Patton, L’leana Jones, Elizabeth Kuffour, Lilly Riddell Dance coach: Kelsi Horner