Gilmer High School’s competition cheerleaders turned in their best performance of the season.
GHS traveled to Dawson County High School last Saturday and finished atop the Class 4A standings. Gilmer scored 69.5 points and placed ahead of Stephens County, LaFayette, Ridgeland, Northwest Whitfield and Southeast Whitfield.
With the region competition coming up, GHS coach Naomi Esparza was happy to see her squad peak at the right time.
“I’m really proud of the girls, and I think they were really proud of themselves,” she said. “As a coach, you tell your kids all season, ‘This is the potential you have, you just have to reach it.’ They saw this was definitely attainable, and it’s going to be a huge confidence booster.”
Gilmer’s scoring surge came after cheerleaders successfully performed skills they had struggled with at preceding competitions.
“This is the first time all season that we hit around 95 percent of our skills and that includes stunts and tumbling,” Esparza said. “We did have some issues in our running scoring sequence, but all of our stunts were exactly where they needed to be.
“Saturday allowed us to see the potential of the routine and what we can score if they’re hitting a perfect routine. That was our goal, to see what type of improvements we needed to make before Saturday.”
The Region 6-4A Championships will be held at Dawson County High School Saturday, and Esparza believes the familiar confines will bode well for GHS.
“The girls really like going to Dawson because it’s familiar,” Esparza said. “We have a really good relationship with the Dawson coaches and their cheerleaders. It’s nice because our cheerleaders feel more like they’re in their home gym. With this past weekend and region being so close, I think it will be good for them.”
GHS will perform at 1:20 p.m. Saturday at DCHS and a top-four finish is needed to advance to the Class 4A state sectionals.