By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays High School cheerleading squad recently placed fourth at the national cheerleading competition.
This is the first year the squad has competed at nationals.
"I'm just proud of our team overall for being able to make it to nationals," Lily Biggs, senior, said. "Our team has just worked so hard to achieve what we've got."
The competitive aspects of cheerleading are much more athletically involved than just leading cheers on the sidelines and include stunts, lifts and tumbling, the squad's seniors said.
"We've just gotten so close over the past years. How closely we bonded helped how we worked together and I think that has got us where we our now," Keiarra Gonzales, senior, said.
Biggs added, "I also feel like we represented our community well. For the first time, we were a small Kansas school and we went to such a large competition. I thought it was really cool."
Members of the team included:
Lily Biggs, MacKenzie Cunningham, Keiarra Gonzales, Makayla Koerner, Abygail Banks, Elsie Chartier, Hailey Klein, Hannah Klein, Trennedy Woosely, Chloe Adkins, Kailey Delimont, Cy Drobeck, Jill Myers, Kailey Phelps and Adelyn Wagner.
Amedee Randle competed with the squad at the state level, but not at nationals.
Avery Harmoney is on the varsity team but did not compete at nationals.
The team is coached by Mackenzie James. Assistant coaches are Carli Nunnery and Olivia Justice.