“If you cower, you die!” the varsity cheer squad screamed before taking on the mat for day one and day two. With this mantra and all their hard work and dedication, the varsity cheer squad became small varsity D1 National Champions. This makes the squad County, State, and National Champions for the 2016-2017 school year.

  The Cheer Ltd. Nationals at Canam was held at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and hosted by the Varsity brand, Cheer Limited. All-star and collegiate teams also competed at this two-day competition. For high schools, the scores were 50-50, meaning they would average the scores from the two days evenly.

  Broughton got a 0.5 point deduction on the first day and only a 0.25 deduction on the second day, almost hitting zero (no point deduction). The division was comprised of six other teams: Pilot Cheer (Norview High), Roberson High School, Cedar Falls High School, Southern Alamance High School, Harnett Central High School, and Parsippany High School.

  The journey to Nationals started during the summer of 2016 where the cheerleaders started to work together as a team and put together a killer routine to ensure a win. After a long, arduous nine months, the cheerleaders finally begin the road trip to Myrtle Beach to end the season with one of the biggest competitions for the varsity cheer squad.

  “Everyone was so well-prepared. It was intimidating. Our team believed that we could win, so we came to Nationals ready to give a 110% to everything we had to do. It is such a rewarding experience to win a title like this when we were up against some of the toughest competition from around the country,” senior Mackenzie Parker said.

  Friday, March 17, the cheerleaders left before noon to arrive at the hotel to check in before driving to the convention center to practice. After practice, the cheerleaders watched the collegiate teams perform and participated in a pep rally that evening.

  The next day was day one of the competition. The morning started with practice before returning two hours later all primped and ready to compete. That evening All-Stars and freshman varsity team members Sydney Herschelman on Cheer Extreme Smoex and Kierston David on Cheer Extreme Cougars also competed.

  On Sunday, the varsity cheer squad practiced once again in the morning before competing in the late afternoon. The awards ceremony crowned the varsity cheer squad National Champions, giving the squad a large banner and a large glass trophy while each individual member got a medal. The girls were then escorted to Ballroom A, the VIP room, to receive a National Champion jacket before going on a small stage to get photos taken in all their champion glory.

  “The work is worth it,” senior Mackenzie Parker said.