The competition for the St. Joe’s cheerleading team began as soon as they settled into their hotel in Daytona, Florida on April 4. Cheerleading mats were sprawled across the hotel for practice, creating a sense of competition according to senior base and Nikki Kennedy.
Just days later, on April 6, the team won first place in the Intermediate All-Girls Division I category in the National Cheerleading Association College National Championship. St. Joe’s outlasted 12 other teams in their division that included teams who won bids to compete in Nationals.
Kennedy said the environment at Nationals was electric.
“Being the loudest in that gym, counting really loud and having high energy for each other set the tone for our competition and helped us gauge our confidence in our ability to execute,” Kennedy said.
Junior base Madeline Bridges said despite the intimidating environment, watching other teams practice in the hotel, the team managed to stay focused going into preliminary competition.
“We just kept reiterating to each other that this is it, this is where you are, this is what we have worked for since August,” Bridges said. “This was our last time as a team all together, with our senior class leaving, so just give your best because this is our only shot.”
The team placed second in the preliminary competition, which took place on April 5. Senior base and Rose Walton said this result pushed them to regroup and stay motivated for the final competition the next day.
“Being in second place was honestly better for us going into day two, because it wasn’t our best performance,” Walton said. “We had something to work towards for finals and drive us to execute our best performance.”
After competing for a bid, 13 teams in the Intermediate All-Girls Division I competed in semifinals or preliminaries.
For seniors like Walton and Kennedy, the finals were their last shot at gold. Walton said she had that in mind as she waited backstage before the competition.
“Not doing exactly what I wanted to do in prelims, I just wanted to go into the finals, leave it all out there and have no regrets,” Walton said. “I was in shock and teared up a little, knowing that it was going to be my last time competing, but I had to bring myself back to focusing on executing my movements.”
Kennedy echoed Walton’s thoughts on the intensity of that atmosphere.
“It’s definitely a nerve-racking environment,” Kennedy said. “When you’re behind that big stage, waiting there with your team, you can hear the teams in front of you that you’re competing against and the crowd screaming for them. It’s easy to get into your own head.”
The team finished second in two of the last three years. They were the runners up to University of Maine in 2016 and Stephen F. Austin State University in 2017.
Head Coach Lauren Hanos said this team’s consistent intensity in practice reflected their drive to finish in first place.
“When we worked out the routine we knew that it was special, but we knew we had to work super hard to capture that top spot in nationals,” Hanos said. “The team came in every night for practice ready to go, focused and looking to help better each other, setting us up to succeed.”
The team found solace in their preparation according to Walton, emulating this moment in every practice.
“The lights were only on us, so it genuinely felt like it was only us out there by ourselves, besides hearing the crowd,” Walton said. “Our high energy and loud practices simulated that experience and best prepared us for that situation.”
Bridges said that she and Kennedy shared a look of disbelief when they finished their routine, knowing they had executed a special performance.
For Walton, when they hit their final movement, the crowd’s uproar confirmed this intuition.
“We ended with a pyramid, which I think is the strongest part of our routine,” Walton said. “Hearing the crowd and even our own team screaming for each other at the end, that was the moment where I believed that we just did this.”
Walton was right about the pyramid, as they scored the highest for that section of the routine. The team ended the weekend with a 96.2583% of perfection for the event, enough to take home first place in their group.
Hanos said she will always remember going backstage to celebrate after the team’s win.
“We got to the back, the on-deck area and [the team] started the H-A-W-K-S chant,” Hanos said. “That moment for me will be forever special because there were other teams back there, and so to have that moment to show pride in our school was just amazing.”
In a previous version of this article, it stated that Rose Walton ’19 and Nikki Kennedy ’19 were captains. There are no captains on the cheerleading team.
