Varsity cheer introduced the first pep rally of the year in honor of fall sports on Oct. 14. The cheer team had a few adjustments right before the pep rally, but they pulled it off in the end.

All high-school students were invited to the gym during seventh period to watch the pep rally.

Freshman Reese Ransom said their practice days were cut off the schedule due to the hurricane, which put stress on the team.

“We were supposed to have 10 practices originally, but Hurricane Ian prevented us from having those extra four practices,” Ransom said. “We weren’t sure if the time we had was enough, so there was lots of pressure on us.”

Sophomore Chloe Marrs said some of the younger girls on the team weren’t allowed to go to a high school event, which changed the whole floor.

“For the next pep rally, I think we are going to work more with pulling the high-school students on JV up because middle-schoolers were not allowed to our pep rally, which was a struggle for our team to adjust to with a week’s notice,” Marrs said. “We had empty spots to fill on the floor and it was overall very stressful.”

Marrs said they performed well and the whole team and coach was proud.

“The day of the pep rally I was still super-nervous, but we hit everything perfectly so it was relieving after and it felt super-accomplishing,” Marrs said. “Our coach was super-proud of us, especially because of the compliments she got from the admin.”

Ransom said they will be working hard in practice to have a better routine.

“Our stunts will be more advanced and we will keep improving them and our tumbling, so next pep rally it will be better,” Ransom said.

Both girls said they are happy with how the pep rally turned out.

“I was proud of the whole team, we hit all our stunts and tumbling, and overall it was a fun experience to see everyone get together and enjoy themselves,” Ransom said.

By Keira Lee