Baldwin’s competitive cheer team placed fourth for their mat routine and ninth for their game day routine overall at nationals in Florida over the weekend.
Teams are scored on how clean their performances are, their tumbling, and their stunt difficulty. Last year, the Highlanders placed 15th overall for their game day routine and did not place for mat.
This was sophomore Victoria Ursida’s first year competing as a Highlander and she was satisfied with the team’s performance.
“I think that everyone went in really wanting to do well and we had a good weekend in general,” Ursida said.
Junior Carly Dowhy said that making it to the finals back-to-back years made her and the team more prepared.
“It gave us more experience on moving on, and we were more prepared,” Dowhy said.
Ursida said that one of the team’s captains, senior Leah Moeller, stood out during their routines.
“She keeps everyone together and I base with her, so she’s a lot of help for me,” Ursida said. “She just always knows what to say to the team.”
Dowhy agreed.
”Leah did a really good job at encouraging the group and keeping our stunts up every day,” Dowhy said.
Ursida hopes the team’s strong showing at nationals this year will lead to more success in the future.
“We don’t know how the team is going to be next year considering who’s coming back and who will be coming up from the middle school, but it would be great to place at nationals next year now that we know what it is like,” Ursida said.
