The FC’s varsity cheer stunt team will be kicking off their competition season on Jan. 18, in Antioch, CA, for the United Spirit Association (USA) Regionals at Deer Valley High School. The squad, made of Hannah Avila, ?14, Rayna Endicott, ?14, Callista Fries, ?15, and Kim Ward, ?15, will be competing in the intermediate high school stunt group division.
Because the cheer squad is focusing on expanding, only one stunt group of the three is going north to Antioch. The stunt group was planning on competing in the competition last year, but the previous base, Senior Emily Shakeshaft, broke her foot before the competition.
The team?s head coach is Courtney Raymundo. Because Raymundo is a first grade teacher at FC and has children of her own, the team can only have two practices a week with her.
Junior high cheer coach Hope Villines, who is the head cheer coach at Fresno City College, has let the stunt group join her practices at Fresno City on Tuesdays and Thursdays. One of the squad?s captains, Endicott, says that these practices have helped the team a lot.
“Practicing at City has been extremely beneficial to our squad this year,” Endicott said. “I love my squad and our dynamics because Hannah and I are best friends and Kim and Cally are best friends too. We’ve definitely had our ups and downs this season preparing for competition but I know that we have over come those obstacles and are more than ready to compete on Saturday.”
The girls plan to arrive in Antioch the night before the competition, Jan. 17. The stunt squad has planned a strategic way for getting ready in the morning on the day of competition. Check-in is at 8 a.m. and they will be first to perform at 9 a.m. the team will meet at 7 a.m. to get dressed, do their make and get their hair ready.
This year, the team is using the same choreography they used last year, which they got from the gym director at Ice All Stars. This will give the squad an edge because they have had extra time to rehearse their routine. The team replaced Shakeshaft with their new base, Ward.
This year the squad is not going into the USA nationals, which they usually do, due to conflicting schedules. The team is simply competing for the highest score they can obtain in each of their divisions. Co-captain, Avila believes the squad will do great at their first competition and hopes to win first place.
“I think we?ll do great this weekend,” Avila said. “We?ve had a long time to practice and to perfect our routine. Since we are unable to compete in the USA nationals we plan to simply attend regionals and showcases to try to get first place at all those places. I think we?ll do awesome because we?re really strong together and have grown so much from last year.”
After they go to Antioch, the squad has two more competitions in March and is planning to go to Jamfest in Long Beach on April 5 and 6.
For more features, read the Jan. 13 article Drama performance requires dedication from students.
This writer can be reached via Twitter: @chloemueller. Follow The Feather via Twitter: @thefeather.
