Sweat, time, effort and unity. According to our Lafayette High School cheerleaders, these are qualities that have to lead our team to success. Coming from a not so successful year last year, the 2016 LHS cheer squad has proved themselves to be a team that can compete.

In their first competition, the Lady Rams placed fourth. The next competition they placed third and were gaining confidence. Senior Chardonnay Beck said, “We were very excited about receiving third place in our competition. We felt as if nothing could stop us.” At their third competition, our lady rams earned seventh place. This humbled the rams causing them to put aside their past achievements and focus on their competitions to come.

Our Cheer Team worked very hard at practice and received second place at their next competition. Unfortunately, the cheer team’s season came to an end at regionals where they earned seventh place. That didn’t stop them from thinking positively about their season. Coach, Channing Wayne said that this season was different from others. “This team had lots of talent and they were eager to work hard. We all had the same goal. There was more unity, no fighting, and we acted as if we were a family”, she said.

The LHS Cheer Squad will not be losing many seniors this year. Among the few that are graduating are Chardonnay Beck, Diamond Durant, and Brianna Canaday. All of the seniors on the competition cheer team praised their coach. Durant described her coach as encouraging and saw her as a mother figure. Coach Channing is already eager for next season. She praises hard work in the off-season and said that preparation for next season starts now.