Cheer Competition

Even Hailey came to cheer for her big sister!

Peyton had her first cheer competition of her season last week. She competed as a rec cheerleader in competitions when she was younger but as a high school cheerleader, only the Varsity team was scheduled for competitions until this year. And, while her goal is to make Varsity next year, as a sophomore, she is on the JV cheer team. 

The cheer teams at her high school have not competed in recent years or been required to tumble until just a few years ago. Because they do want to compete, the coaches are now requiring certain tumbling skills to even make the team. 

Peyton has worked hard on her tumbling skills and earned a coveted spot "on mat" - the entire team must try out for these positions as not everyone on the team makes "mat." The routine required her to do a standing back handspring as well as a round off back handspring. Positioned in the front for most the routine, she jumped, she danced and she looked animated in her first competition of the season. And, although their flyer fell (their stunts looked a little rough the first go round), it wasn't because of the bases. You can see the flyer clearly loses her balance after bringing her extended leg in way too fast.

They came in third place out of 10 teams and probably could've gotten at least 2nd had their stunts been a little more polished. So they went back to the drawing board to rework these stunts for their next competition on Friday and Saturday. 

We can't wait to cheer her on! 

Front row, bottom left (JV cheer team)

(Look for Peyton in bottom left corner and then follow her around the mat)