The Advocate

Law Cheerleaders Take Third Place At Nationals

Monday, March 14, 2011 By Amanda Keator- Columns Editor

The Jonathan Law cheerleading team recently traveled to the Sunshine State to compete in Nationals. On February 5, the girls left school at 11:00 a.m. to catch their 3 p.m. flight to Orlando, Florida for the four-day competition. "The whole team was ecstatic to leave for Florida and to compete in Nationals against the best teams around the nation," captain Allie Drysten said. "We have worked so hard in practices and competitions to get to Nationals." The girls had to place first in their division in Regionals to qualify for Nationals. Their two-minute routine was performed perfectly, leaving their fate up to the judges. At the end of the competition the team was informed that they had placed first, which meant they had qualified for Nationals. "When we found out our team placed first at Regionals we were thrilled to know that we would be going to Nationals for the first time," senior captain Leticia Gonzalez said. "We had a great performance and everyone pitched in and did their job." Once the girls arrived in Florida, they went right to work preparing for the biggest tournament of their lives. Practices went from three to four hours each of the four days they spent there. "Practices were intense once we got to Florida; our coach wanted everything to go perfect the day of our competition," junior captain Nicole Wasson said. "It was especially hard to concentrate." In the little free time the girls had to hang out, they got to hang by the pool, and visit the Magic and Animal Kingdoms. "It was a great bonding experience for the team," senior Ally German said. "I felt like the team definitely got closer while we were in Florida." Their routine for Nationals consisted of two minutes and 30 seconds of dance, cheer, dance, basket tosses, partner stunts and tumbling. For Nationals, the team decided to increase the difficulty of their routine to try and boost their score the judges would give. "At first the girls were contemplating changing their routine so close to Nationals because we felt it was very risky and could increase the chance of error during their performance," senior Chandler Dugas said. " In the end it was definitely worth changing because it untimely increased our scores which we were all extremely happy about." After the squad performed, they anxiously waited for two hours to hear their scores of their routine. Ultimately, their difficulty scores led them to a third place finish in their division. They took home a trophy and the bronze medal. "I was extremely proud of all the girls they worked hard all season and deserved to make it to Nationals and place third in their division," head coach Bonnie Ettense said. "It shows Law how serious we are about cheerleading here and how hard we work."