The cheerleaders made their way to Arlington, Texas to compete in their annual cheer competition on Jan. 9-10. This was only the second year that UIL recognized cheer as a sport and the second time that CP has performed. Advancing from last year, the cheer team placed 24th out of 122 teams, beating Rouse, Vandegrift and Leander.

“We got sixth place in the ‘Fight Song’ category,” assistant coach Chriss Hexter said.“We did pretty well, we had some hiccups that we could’ve probably done better with, but we were proud of the girls and what they accomplished.”

Since the cheerleaders had already experienced the competition from last year, they had more knowledge going into it this year.

“We knew what the judges were looking for,” Hexter said. “As far as our weaknesses, some of our stunts didn’t hit and the girls were really nervous.”

The cheerleaders practiced quite frequently, with times ranging from 6 a.m. practice to after school until 6 p.m.

“Getting to perform what we practiced at competition [was my favorite],” junior Sabrina Enriquez said. “We got to show off. It was hard sometimes getting the placement [of the routine], but overall it looked really good.”

While at competition, each team had time to warm up and prepare before they perform.

“My favorite part of the competition is definitely warming up in the warm up room because everyone is so positive and excited to go out on the floor and nail our routines,” senior Bailey McKeown said.

As a senior, this was McKeown’s last competition with the team and the last time to bond together.

“I’m going to miss the friendships I’ve built with all of the girls,” McKeown said. “The countless amount of time I spent with all of them really built our relationships and brought us really close as a team. I’m going to miss the endless memories I made with all of them at cheer camps, pep rallies, football games and our competitions.”