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The LaGrange High game day cheer team is back on the mats and back winning competitions. The Grangers took part in their first competition of the season this past Saturday in Stockbridge, finishing in first place in their classification.

“We heard LaGrange and just started jumping up and down and chanting LG,” captain Sydnee Jennings said. 

“We felt good walking off the mats,” senior Abigail McLain added. “We were nervous for the results, but we knew that despite a few hiccups that it was a good performance.”

This is year two for the program and the team is looking to build on a successful first season. The Grangers finished top-6 in the state last season in what was a remarkable first year for the team.

There has been a ton of turnover with this year’s team. The Grangers lost 13 seniors from last year’s team leaving a large void to fill for the numerous younger girls on the team.

“We have a younger team this year. Last year, we had a lot more seniors, and we were the only juniors on the team,” senior Gracie Burns said. “But this year we have sophomores, freshmen, juniors, and we’ve added some new seniors this year.”

The Grangers needed some ladies to fill the leadership roles and the team’s seven returning seniors stepped up in a big way. Jennings, Burns, McLain, Stella Cain, Lilly Johnson, Kylah Johnson, and Adiyah Lipscomb have been instrumental in the team’s early success this season.

“This group, they are amazing leaders,” head coach Mitzi Norton said. “Last year we lost 13 seniors, and these girls, this group right here, they just took it and ran with it, and they are continuing to just lead the way. I’m so very proud of them.”

Anybody that saw LaGrange last season, but have yet to see them this year will be in for a treat when they eventually do. This year’s performances will not be the same as last year.

“We changed the fight song just a little bit, but other than that our routine is completely different this year,”  Cain said. “Same setup, but different elements. We have new music and new skills.”

The routine this year is also more difficult. 

“It took us a lot longer this year to get the routine down, but I think you can see that our choreography is more challenging,” Jennings said. 

Having a full year under their belt and knowing what to expect at competitions allowed the girls to be more comfortable and free-flowing when they first assembled to work on the routine at the beginning of summer.

“Even though it did take a longer time to learn it at choreography camp, we were going full out the next day, whereas last year, we didn’t go full out until regular season, maybe around when school started,” said Lilly Johnson, one of the captains on this year’s team. “It changes during the year. It’s very spontaneous. It’s not supposed to be robotic. It’s supposed to be energetic, fun and engaging in the moment.”

Members of the traditional competition cheer team and the sideline cheer team saw the success and fun the game day competition cheer team had last year and wanted to be a part of the team. LaGrange had just 20 girls last season, but have 30 on the roster this season. Only a maximum of 24 girls can take the mat at one time, so the Grangers have been left with some alternatives, who are still working hard every day at practice, so that they can fill in when need be.

Despite placing first in their classification at their first competition this season on Saturday, it was far from a perfect performance. There were a few hiccups, including a sign that read defense while the team chanted about the offense. 

“The hiccups are definitely better to have now, because for our prelim competitions it is mostly about getting feedback so that we can figure it out before state,” senior captain Kylah Johnson said. “So I think going to prelims is a very important part of going, of doing game day, because of the feedback that you get.”

The team will take that feedback and make some tweaks and alterations to their routine before the next competition. 

In a strange twist of fate, the girls feel more confident and energetic during their performances than they do when they have to wait for the announcement on who finished where in each category, that is when the nerves set in.

“I was really scared, because in the first few divisions, they only announced first place. And I was like, it’s either gonna be first place or nothing, but then they called out Mary Persons for second place in our division and we started looking around at each other and knew it was going to be us,” Lipscomb said.

The formation of the game day competition cheer team has only brought the entire program together. It offers another way for the girls to display their love of cheer without it being at the service of another sport.

“It makes cheer more like a family, like we get more close with each other personally, because at spirit practices, you just go over the same cheers every day. But here you’re actually trying to win something,” Burns said. 

“Our first two years, we’re just cheering on the football team, and now we have something like that we can push, like, to be our best,” Lipscomb added.