The varsity coed cheer team made their way to a state-qualifying second place finish at this year’s virtual state meet, competing alongside six other teams for their sectional event. Competitions were far from ordinary this year as the teams had to virtually participate by filming all of the performances at their home gyms.

Without all the elements of competition, this made for a much different experience—especially for athletes competing for their fourth year. Senior Gianna Thayer missed the action of the crowd, but enjoyed the more lenient nature of virtual competition. 

“I liked the virtual competitions because it was less stressful and if there was a mistake we could restart, but I also miss real competitions way more because of the adrenaline rush and hearing the crowd cheer us on,” Thayer said. 

Hiatuses implicated by COVID throughout the season made for planning complications as the team frequently had to adjust to new schedules and arrange for space. Despite all of this, the team pulled through and placed in the top four at all of the competitions prior to state. Head varsity cheer coach Allyson Passarelli faced these challenges head-on and helped lead the team to state. 

“These breaks [and] pauses definitely made it more challenging to prepare for our competition season, but our team was patient and persevered through the entire process,” Passarelli said. 

After competing at state the team was very proud of their work and how they were able to end their season. Junior Mady Hyer and the team are optimistic for a normal season next year. 

“It is obviously unfortunate that we did not get to have the full experience of state, but even qualifying was super amazing. I am hopeful for a normal experience next year and I am really proud of our efforts,” Hyer said.