Gilmer High School cheerleaders fell just short of qualifying for state.
GHS was at West Laurens High School Nov. 9 for the annual region and sectional competition, and a top 16 placement was needed to secure a state spot.
While Gilmer cheerleaders scored an 81 to achieve their best mark of the season, they finished 19th and were unable to continue their season.
First-year head coach Lori Cantrell discussed why it was a special day for the program even though they just missed on their season goal of reaching state.
“This was the absolute best they have performed all season,” said Cantrell. “They had what we call a ‘complete hit.’ Every stunt group hit, they did the tumbling they were expected to do, and every stunt group finished or completed every stunt that was built into the routine. Our seniors said that was the first time that happened during their high school career.”
Gilmer’s score was markedly better than where it started at the first competition. With nearly all of its roster returning next season, Cantrell is looking forward to more growth.
“We increased our score 20 points from the beginning of the season, which is almost unheard of,” she said. “Luckily for us, we’re only graduating two seniors, and some of those other teams we competed against had six, seven, eight seniors, and we can only put 16 on the floor. It was lots of hard work, practicing differently than they were used to and a lot more structured hours and intense training.
“The team, along with the parents, are super excited for next season, and we should be able to keep advancing pretty strongly. All the ones we have coming back are tumblers and have the advanced training already, so it should hopefully be a better season for us.”