Cheer Competitions

Alison, Paige and Madelyn had cheer competitions in January.  Regional competition went very well and all three girls made it to the state competition.  Between regionals and states there were several changes that happened to both teams.  Paige and Allie's team had two girls not show up for the state event.  One of the missing girls was a flier and the other was a front spot.  Allie was thrilled when she was given the opportunity to fly for state.  There were a few stunts that she wasn't able to perform because of the missing front spot, but it was a good experience for her. Although she had a good experience, the team didn't place at state.

Paige and Allie are on the far left.  Paige in the middle;Allie second in the front.  Madelyn helps coach the team and is wearing the green shirt in the back right.

  Madelyn's team had two girls quit 4 weeks before competition to do high school cheer.  One of the girls was kicked off the high school team and wanted to come back 2 weeks before competition.  (She wasn't allowed to return until next semester.)  Mads team came in third at state and qualified for national competition in July, which takes place in Grand Rapids. 

Cheer Nationals Competition

Madelyn's cheer squad qualified for the national competition  by winning the state competition. Nationals were held in Virginia Beach.  We hadn't planned on any big trips this year, but decided to take the whole family and turn her competition into a family vacation.

We crammed 9 people, camping equipment, and clothes for all of us into the Mountaineer and headed east.  I'll do another post about the vacation aspect of the trip.

Madelyn's team was classified as a super-large group in her division.  The teams compete in order from smallest to largest in each group.  There were several teams in front of her and many of them did extremely well.  The team from Grand Ledge did an amazing performance.  During their stunting portion of the routine, one of the bases (person who holds up the fliers) threw up.  She continued to lift her flier in the air.  I didn't even notice that she had been ill.

It was obvious that the judges didn't notice that someone vomited either, because the next team quickly followed them out to the stage.  That team completed their entire routine.  Some of the girls did tumbling through the yucky portion of the stage!  After they had finished and had left the stage, the adult spotters refused to leave the stage until the area was cleaned and sanitized. 

Madelyn's team did really well.  One girl didn't complete her tumbling pass, but everything else was perfect.  Madelyn's team placed second behind the Grand Ledge team!  We were so happy for everyone.  They had all worked really hard this season and continued with regular practices for 2 months after the cheer season normally ends.

Madelyn and her proud Dad.