Gilmer High was in Canton to began the competition cheer season.
GHS traveled to Creekview High School last Saturday, and while there were no other teams in their division, cheerleaders were still able to check their progression after months of preparation.
Coach Lori Cantrell discussed Gilmer’s day and the girls first time on the mat this season.
“Our score wasn’t what we wanted, but they did really well considering it was their first competition,” she said. “They did really well with their confidence, their energy was high and they maximized their scoresheet in their degree of difficulty ranges.”
Cheerleaders were scored on partner stunts, pyramid, standing and running tumbling, dance, cheer and tosses. Cantrell noted they will focus on improving execution scores across all areas in preparation for region and state qualifying.
“Moving forward, for the upcoming competitions we have, we need to really focus on increasing our execution scores. The execution is what was so low for us this past Saturday,” Cantrell said. “Our main focus for the season is to make it to state. We’ll go over scoresheets Monday at practice and refocus to put everything we have to make sure we’re one of the top 16 to make it to state.
“All of our competitions are just practice for region. We don’t care about the other teams there or who is doing what. We’re only focused on ourselves and putting the absolute best routine we can put out there. Every single competition is practice for region.”
GHS will attend its next competition Saturday at Woodstock High School.