After excruciatingly long practices, stanky legs and many routine changes later, Robinson’s Competition Cheer team has made it to states.

On Jan. 20, the RHS Competition Cheer team took on their last competition, which determined if they qualify for states, at Plant City and showed everyone what they’ve got in just two and a half minutes. With stunting, cheering and so much more, the team managed to get a score of 61- 60 being the minimum to qualify for states. Now, they’ll be going to Gainesville to compete on Feb. 3 with only a week to prepare.

This year, with half the team never cheering before in a knight’s uniform, it’s definitely a celebration and one for the books. Team members put in tons of energy and hours to make it to states and Captain and Flyer, Anabelle Swan (‘23) would agree. Swan believes that it was time-consuming but blossomed new friendships.

“I feel like I always try my hardest and put all my energy into each routine,” Swan said. “It takes up a lot of time almost every day after school, [but] I get to better my friendships with people on the team.”

Throughout the season, the team had to change their routine multiple times to accommodate for missing people or switching up moves, which is a bump in the road, but they managed to jump over and make it to states. Captain and main base, Sara Gainer (‘23), believes that perfecting a routine takes time but it ensures everything runs smoothly.

“It was definitely a stressful and fun process. There are a lot of components that make up the routine and to ensure that everything runs smoothly,” Gainer said. “Multiple practices a week were needed. It definitely took a lot of commitment from [every] cheerleader.”

Out of an entire team of girls, it’s Kameron Padgett’s (‘24) first year as the only male cheerleader. As a base on the competition team, he’s very excited to be heading to states with his team and believes changing the routine is essential.

“Although it makes performing more difficult, changing the routine is essential for doing better at each competition,” Padgett said. “I feel honored to make it to states in my first year… I’m proud of the work the team put into getting here.”