Jan. 12, 2024—The A&M Consolidated High School and College Station High School cheer teams competed at the UIL Spirit State Championships on Jan. 5 in Fort Worth. This marks the second year both high school cheer teams have competed at the state contest.
The competition includes a qualifying round in which teams perform a fight song, a band chant, and a crowd leading routine. Scores for each routine are tallied to determine advancement to the final round. The top 20 teams in each division advance to the finals.
Out of more than 70 teams competing in Class 5A Division I, Cougar Cheer placed 22nd overall in the qualifying round (3rd in fight song, 15th in band chant, 49th in crowd leading) and Tiger Cheer placed 27thoverall in the qualifying round (17th in fight song, 36th in band chant and 29th in crowd leading).
“Cougar Cheer performed an outstanding routine at UIL in Fort Worth,” said Shae DeBerry and Lara Leigh Ewing, cheer coaches at College Station. “We truly could not be prouder of our team. This group of amazing athletes has been practicing since early September and have persevered through tragedy, injuries, high academic standards, additional activities, late nights, early mornings, and high school to come together as a team and deliver a high energy, spirit filled fun routine. Each girl gave 100% on the mat. As coaches we could not ask for anything more. Although it did not go our way, the progress and the memories made it all worth it. We love these girls and are so thankful! We want to thank all our cheer families, the CSHS administration, Cougar staff, and our athletic directors for the unconditional love and support this season.”
"We are very proud of all of the hard work that our cheerleaders put in preparing for competition,” said Jodi Schlather and Taylor Warren, cheer coaches at A&M Consolidated. “Each year we have learned something that makes us better sideline cheerleaders and prepares us for the next year. They left everything on the mat, and that is all we can ask of them.”