By Rikki Pepino

Tuscarora’s competitive cheerleading team started their season with a bang as the varsity team won 3rd place with a score of 228.5 last Saturday, October 5, at the Stone Bridge Spirit Bowl. The event was an amazing night filled with teams utilizing jumps, dance, cheers, and more to woo the judges.

“I think we did well,” said sophomore varsity cheerleader Amanda Pearson. “We could’ve done better, but the competition was definitely great. Winning last year was a huge accomplishment for us, and being 3rd place this year was great too.”

Broad Run’s varsity team won the Bowl with a score of 242, while Stone Bridge placed 2nd. Stone Bridge’s JV team won the JV division with scores of 236.5 and 181. The Tuscarora JV team placed 1st runner up in their division with a score of 154.5, tying with Langley High School.

“I think everyone did amazing in that competition,” said Sheldon Bullock, Tuscarora’s choreographer. “It’s so hard to learn routines during the summer, and for them to be performing the routine with that amount of time is just pretty impressive.”

Bullock then went on to comment about the competition this coming season, saying, “All the schools pose…good competition. They have given great performances. I expect schools like Stafford, Broad Run, and Tuscarora to stand out.”

“We really could’ve done better, but I’m proud that our team got 3rd place,” said senior team member Eli Reid. “We just gotta brush up on some techniques, get stuff done and work together as a team.”

“I think we did really well, but I’d like to see some more improvement for our next competition,” said Head Coach Meg Upp. “[The varsity cheerleaders] had a lot more skill level than last year. We just have clean and perfect a few parts for our next competition.”

“We were nervous,” Upp continued, “but it was an excited kind of nervous. we have some members on our team that have never competed before, and I think it was a good experience for them to get all the butterflies out.”

Tuscarora’s cheerleaders went on to compete in the Loudoun County Cheer Championships at John Champe High School last Wednesday, October 9. Tuscarora achieved a score of 208.5, placing them in 2nd, while Stone Bridge won their first ever Loudoun County Championship.