Known collectively as the Spiritline, Pinnacle High School’s (PHS) Cheer and Pom competed in nationals in Anethiem, California in mid-Febuary. Their hard work and dedication initially lead to their achievements at state and put them on the road to nationals.
“We are all definitely very excited for nationals right now. We are kind of in the thick of our training so it’s kind of daunting.” said Pom Captian, senior Rachel Taylor
This year, spiritline focused on team achievements of score ranks and self goals, hoping to feel satisfied with their competitive routines at competition before awards came around. The teams worked each day to make their routines as clean as possible, practicing their routines to completion and cleaning them up until they meet satisfaction. Both Cheer and Pom headed to Nationals to perform in mid-Febuary with perfected routines which earned them top honors.
“We always circle up and make sure everyone is in the right headspace before going on, and we just have a little chit chat,” said Cheer Captain, senior Teegan Alexander.
Motivation played a key part in their practices, and, before taking the stage, hyping each other up by doing chants like “PHS Trish Dialed.” In the week before competition, the coaches kept the practices light-hearted and positive, saying positive words to the team and not changing moves.
“This year, our team mindset is very much focused on just feeling good about the routine we put on the floor and, like, personal progress versus our, like, placement,” said junior Alexa Zakaras, Pom captain. “So yes, it is nice to have, like, validation of placement, but we are not focusing on it. We expect to get first place where we expect to get to third.”
Several of the teams won first place for their routines, including, Varsity Song Pom Advanced Medium, Varsity Jazz Advanced medium / small, Varsity All Girl Stunt Intermediate and Junior Varsity Jazz each won 1st place for their routines. Happy with their win, they celebrated at Disneyland with all of spiritline, a tradition that they celebrate every year after nationals to celebrate their season.
This year’s season officially came to an end and spiritline plans to celebrate their achievements with an end-of-year banquet.
“These girls put their blood sweat and tears into every single day. They put their hearts into everything that they do,” said spiritline Director Kaley Nowaczyk. “This was a really special group of girls that were really passionate about not just placing well but making their entire journey of their season really enjoyable and just loving every second of it.”
Spiritline already got started preparing for next year’s season by planning clinics and workshops for incoming freshmen and students at PHS. Tryouts for students begin in May, followed by the announcement of next year’s teams.
