Viking cheerleaders prepare for their competition

“One-two-three-four, five-six-seven-eight.” Almost every day after school, one could often hear Viking cheerleaders chanting on cheers during practice for their competition. On September 26th, Irvington cheerleaders will be competing against many schools at the USA Regionals Competition in Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The girls have been practicing everyday for at least an hour after school to prepare for the program. In addition to practicing for the competition, they have been drilling through their cheers for the football games.

The girls started preparing for this major competition since summer began. Over the summer, they received some training by one of the judges of the competition. The cheerleaders had a 2-day clinic with him creating the routine together. “It was a challenge since those couple of days were filled with tons of emotions, from breaking down to breaking free of old habits,” said junior Alyssa Sare. “We made so much progress and though some tears were cried, every minute of the clinic was worth it.”

In addition to the judge’s training, the girls also received training from Rylee Dill, a member of the U.S.A cheerleading team. Rylee came in to help improve the routine and practice on it along with the cheerleaders. The coaches include head coach Sheri Mejia, assistant head coach Kristin Dill, Junior Varsity coach Jessica Marquez, and Varsity coach Chelsea Ryker.

“We’ve put a lot of work into doing our absolute best for the competition,” said Alyssa. “Every girl on the team is fully committed and giving all that they’ve got into this so that we can win.” The Viking cheerleaders hope to cheer on their way to success at the USA Regionals Competition.