Competitive Cheer finished in second place at its first competition of the season, qualifying for nationals.

Junior and former flyer Lily Jeffery, who left the team in November, said the team’s success can be attributed to the mental and physical strength of each member.

“(Cheer) is very physically hard,” Jeffery said. “While we’re trying to win, that takes a lot of strength, so we’re constantly working out our warm ups and our workouts before we actually start practice.”

Jeffery also said teamwork and mindset are crucial for success in the sport.

“The things that get in the way (of success) the most are the mental difficulties and the mindsets that people might have,” Jeffery said. “There’s a lot of trust involved. There’s a lot of working together, and there’s a lot of pressure. When something doesn’t go right or if people are not getting along, (that) can impact (the team’s success).

Sophomore and base Cailey Quita said cheer is also challenging due to obstacles in a players mindset.

“The most challenging part of cheer is your mindset,” Quita said. “People think most sports are a strength thing but in cheer, because there’s so much commitment, it’s really a mind thing where you have to be there in the moment and focus.”

Along with getting into the right mindset, Sophomore and base Talia Boneh said that perseverance is the key to success in cheer competitions.

“I just want to take (cheer) day by day to work through anything that comes up and that’s kind of how I get over (mental blocks) because I think cheer takes a lot of resilience to (be successful),” Boneh said.

Looking into the future, Quita said she hopes to continuously improve as an athlete while working to strengthen her team’s overall spirit.

“​​This year, I’m most excited to grow as a cheerleader, as an athlete, to become stronger and to become closer to my fellow cheerleaders,” Quita said.

Quita also said the team is working to perfect its current routine for its upcoming competitions despite a lack of tumblers.

“Paly cheer is currently non-tumbling (because) we don’t have enough tumblers on the team,” Quita said. “We’ve really been trying to clean up all jumps, our stunts and our cheer (to) make it really clean, really precise and to try and get like the crowd hyped.”