On January 30, the Varsity Cheerleading squad earned the county champion title once again during the winter competition. The cheer team has been a dominant force compared to the other Frederick County schools. Governor Thomas Johnson High School finished in second place, and Urbana High School was the third place finisher.

Special Education department chair Stephanie Bindel has been attending cheerleading events for the past 8 years, and is a cheer enthusiast.

“I think that the future will be certainly exciting; however we are losing Janet Ingram who has been the coach for 10 years. She’s retiring from coaching, but we still have two strong coaches and I think we will continue to grow and get better over time.”

“The level of difficulty and athleticism has increased definitely. There’s so much tumbling and stunting that you would see in all-star cheerleading, that’s what makes our school stand out,” Bindel said.

“A number of our girls that have participated in competitive cheer have gained so many skills which just improves us as a whole,” she added.

Junior Danielle Riley has been a cheerleader since her freshman year and plans to continue being on the squad for the remainder of her high school career.

“I’ve been cheerleading for about 9 years now. I got into cheer because when I was younger I used to always watch cheer videos, so I just want to be a cheerleader. I’m considering participating in cheerleading in college, but I’m unsure at the moment.”

“What I enjoy most about cheerleading is going to competitions and all of the team bonding that we do together.”

Our cheer team has remained a commanding force in the past, and has a promising future for years to come. They have definitely proved to be a sport to watch.