Bow adorned ponytails filled the gym on Saturday, Nov. 15, as the Southwest cheerleaders hosted the Fourth Annual Blue Valley Southwest Cheer Showcase. The cheerleaders welcomed about 25 squads from regional high schools and middle schools. The Showcase presented squads the first chance of the season to perform their routines for other regional schools and audience members, as well as receive an evaluation by national and college cheer judges.

After the Southwest squad opened with its routine, performances followed by squads from the Blue Valley, Shawnee Mission, De Soto and Gardner Edgerton school districts. The high school and middle school squads also saw special performances from competitive cheerleading squads such as Kansas City Athletic Cheer and Blue Valley Cheerleading Club, as well as a routine from the Missouri Valley College squad. Seeing other squads’ performances gave the cheerleaders the opportunity to find inspiration for new routines

“Watching other squads inspires us to try new things and work harder to be even better,” varsity cheerleader senior Madi Wright said. “I think anyone from our squad can say that Blue Valley High always blows our minds. They have a totally different routine every year, and they’re so sharp and always have a huge student section when they perform.”

Unlike previous years, a large student section supported the Southwest squad, which was primarily filled with the athletes whom the cheerleaders are typically the ones cheering on.

“Having all of those people in the audience just made us feel supported and appreciated,” junior varsity cheerleader junior Jasmine Moore said. “Seeing everyone in the crowd sparked a different mindset. I felt more energized than I ever had in a practice round, and it felt really good.”

The audience saw a routine that the cheerleaders had been practicing for over two months prior to the competition, starting in the beginning of September. The girls practiced the routine each block day class every week, as well as three to four additional practices after school for two weeks before the Showcase. Wright said that although she was nervous to perform, seeing the large crowd to support her gave her a newfound confidence.

“Before competition, I get super nervous, and I start to get sweaty and anxious, but I kept myself together this year because I wanted all of the other girls to think of the routine as just having fun as a squad and performing for everyone who supports us,” Wright said. “When we were performing, I was nervous, but at the same time really happy to be performing because we had a really good student section there to watch us and cheer us on.”

Judges ranked each squad on a one to three scale, with one being the highest rating, signifying that the squad’s routine was of “superior” quality. One of the individual stunt groups of senior Katrina Schuster, juniors Erika Bolles, Breana Cox and Lexi Tarter and sophomore Olivia Swyers received a superior rating, while the squad as a whole received a two, signifying that the squad’s routine was of “excellent” quality. Even though, she was disappointed that the squad didn’t perform as well as it had hoped to, senior varsity cheerleader Paige Donovan liked the relaxed atmosphere of the Showcase.

“We didn’t do so great, so that was kind of unfortunate, but [the Showcase] was fun,” Donovan said. “There’s nothing really to worry about – you just do what you’re supposed to do in front of everyone, and then you can just hang out with your friends.”