The cheerleaders competed at the Missouri state championships at Mizzou on Sunday, Oct. 29, and finished in third place.

The cheerleaders have been practicing to make their routine better since regionals in July, and during their practices, they mat talk to cheer each other on and make each other push harder.

One thing that they often say is “When you are out there performing, do it for the person next to you.”

The team did work hard for each other and were prepared for this year’s competition.

“We were super excited for state because we were more prepared this year than ever,” Kennedy Stroker said. “We’ve been going full out multiple times every practice since school started in August.”

Going into the competition, Stroker said the team didn’t know how it would go.

“We didn’t know what to expect walking in so we just did our best,” Stroker said. “Even though we hit, we got third place which the team was kind of disappointed because we already got third place my sophomore year and we wanted to score higher than VRAHS have ever scored before and make history but I was still really proud of how much this team has grown.”

The chemistry of the team has been very good this year.

“We’re a smaller team so we work together better and know each other more and get along really well.”

That camaraderie was evident before the team even hit the stage at the state competition.

“After giving the speech backstage, all the seniors were tearing up minutes before we walked out on the mat,” Stroker said. “We felt bad because we made the whole team start to cry but it showed how much we cared. It was a bittersweet moment.”