Arlington High School’s competitive cheer team is in full swing after completing its first competition season.

The team’s first meet was Oct. 25 at the UCA Mid-South Regional competition. The varsity squad placed fourth against four other teams and earned a bid to nationals after hitting a clean routine. The JV team placed first in its division — the only team in that division — and also received a nationals bid.

“I am immensely proud of this team,” senior Katelyn Parker said. “We’ve been working hard since April to get the difficult skills needed for our division. When we were first working on them, it looked a little rough. We eventually pulled it together and everyone saw our hard work in what we put out on the floor.”

On Nov. 2 the program hosted show night at the high school, where both high school teams, Arlington Middle, AYS and Cheer Abilities performed for friends and family who could not attend competitions. The next weekend the team performed at the Memphis Pride Showcase benefiting Youth Villages.

On Nov. 15 the teams traveled to Kentucky for the Bluegrass Regional competition. The JV team placed second against one other team, and the varsity squad placed second out of eight teams.

“Our varsity team has had a lot of ups and downs already this season,” said senior Sophia Stavrides. “We were doing really well with our routine and then one of our sophomore flyers got hurt doing a full. A few days later, one of our junior main bases tore her ACL in the middle of a full-out. That’s been a big loss to overcome since she’s out all season. That’s the kind of stuff people don’t see when we perform. No matter what we place, we’re proud because we know the challenges we’ve faced and overcome.”

The next competition for the cheerleaders is UCA Nationals in February. The team will continue refining the routine to make it harder and cleaner. We can’t wait to see how they do.