by Adam Rabinowitz
As Regionals approach and the competition continues to grow stronger, cheerleading has been hard at work, according to senior Ally Quinn, a captain with seniors Lauren Buckminster and Marisa Correia.
The Tigers placed fourth in the co-ed division at the Sheppard Hill Cheer Invitational this past weekend. This was the first co-ed division appearance for the Tigers in more than a decade.
According to Buckminster, placing fourth in this division was an amazing accomplishment for the team.
“The co-ed division is definitely the most difficult division and it is a whole new scene for us. The teams we went against were some of our top competitors in the state and even with a few mistakes we still scored high and took home a trophy,” she said.
Buckminster also added the the Tigers won the best dance choreography award out of the 30 teams that were there. It was “a great reward for how hard [the Tigers] have worked on that section,” she said.
The Tigers also competed in Bay States Wednesday, ultimately finishing fifth out of 13 teams.
There was only a three-point difference between the first place team and the fifth place team, and Quinn thinks that the Tigers could have placed higher had they had a more difficult routine. However, Quinn believes that the Tigers gave it their all.
“With our overall performance, like our energy and our execution of the routine, we definitely met our potential.  We are going to be making our stunts more difficult for Regionals and are going to work on our jumps a lot this next week because they could always be better,” she said.
With many competitions approaching, the team has been increasing the intensity in practice.
“The past few weeks have not only been physically exhausting, but mentally as well,” said Buckminster. “We have been having a few three-hour practices a week and the rest are two and a half hours. The team as a whole is very dedicated and pushed through the toughest part of the season.”
Buckminster also added that the team managed to pull together all that it worked on just in time for the competition last weekend.
“Seeing where we are now after knowing where we started is incredible. We have come so far and our progress has not yet slowed down. I have no doubt in my mind that we have the ability to not only compete at States, but place,” she said.
The team’s next tournament is Regionals Sunday, Nov. 15, which Buckminster said will be an important meet for the Tigers.
“You only get one shot to show the judges and spectators what you are capable of. We have Bay States and Regionals to leave everything we have out on the blue mat and hopefully our hard work will pay off and we will be competing Nov. 22 against the best teams in Massachusetts,” she said.