The shrill chants of hundreds of cheerleaders fill the gym as they practice and wait for their turn to compete. Bows, glitter and pleated skirts add swirling color to the scene, as the squads’ heart rates skyrocket and they prepare to perform.

For the 33rd year, the annual Clovis Pep Classic cheer competition will be held at Clovis High School, Jan. 31. The super squad will perform at approximately 6:32 p.m.

The campus cheer program has been involved in the competition off-and-on for about 20 years. For the first time, the combined super squad will be continuing the tradition.

They will compete against schools such as Hanford West, Buhach Colony, Atascadero, McClain, Tehachapi, Golden West and the United Spirit Association (USA) national champions, Central High School.

After missing practice for three weeks because of Christmas break, the squad’s practice time was also changed back to eighth period. With the addition of basketball games into the practice schedule, the girls have had only three weeks to regain their energy and perform to their best.

Cheer coach Katie Mendenhall likes the earlier practice time, but has some doubts about adequate preparation.

“I like the practice time we have,” Mendenhall said, “but I feel like it is not long enough for having to practice both game and comp material.”

At USA Regionals, Nov. 8, the squad’s main competition was Clovis West and Central High, but after hearing that Central would not compete, they pressured themselves to beat Clovis West.

At Clovis Pep, Central will once again compete, and the super squad focuses their attention on out-performing them.

While some squads may just zero in on the strong points, Mendenhall often focuses on the weak points of the routine so that they can improve.

“Our low point is our tumbling,” Mendenhall said, “because we do not have that much. I think that Central’s weak point is their partner stunts, but they are very good, and this will be a hard competition.”

With an undefeated season so far, the girls must adjust from a spring floor, usually used at the competition, to the style they practice on.

A dip in the partner stunts and an extra element for the flyers to hit was added, due to Mendenhall’s decision to make the routine more difficult.

“I believe the girls will do very well,” Mendenhall said, “even with the changes that were made. I am very happy with how hard the girls work to get where they are now and how committed they are.”

Sophomore Shelby Decker found it difficult to recall the nuances of the routine after the respite for Christmas.

“Even though we have been practicing this routine since school started,” Decker said, “after being gone for three weeks it was hard to remember the changes we made right before we left. It is also hard because we are out of shape.”

Junior Alyssa Boss agrees with Mendenhall when it comes to adding in the changes.

“Since I tumble it is really hard to add more challenging stunts in,” Boss said, “because I do not have a lot of energy left, but hopefully we will achieve a victory, and most importantly, have fun and enjoy what we are doing.”

A flyer on the squad, junior Alyssa Powell looks forward to competing against the different teams at Clovis Pep.

“I always look forward to watching and meeting the other teams,” Powell said, “but unfortunately there will not be a springfloor, which means everyone is going to have to work harder to hit their stunts and especially land their tumbling.”

The squad appreciates the variety of the different competition, testing their skills against new teams.

“I love having new competition,” Decker said. “Sometimes when you compete against the same schools it gets kind of boring.”

The squad will compete next at the Fellowship of Christian Cheerleaders (FCC) West Coast Championship at Azuza Pacific University.

For the complete competition schedule, visit the Cheer Web site. For more information on cheer, e-mail Katie Mendenhall or read the Dec. 19 article, Senior supervise cheer squad, the Nov. 24 article, Cheer conquers FCC Capital Classic or the Nov. 7 article, Cheer regionals challenge super squad.