Pep leaps to second day of Nationals

After placing at Regionals in January, the TCHS Pep team qualified for the United Spirit Association 2015 Nationals Competition on March 20 at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Cheer team placed fourth with a score of 82.5, the Pep Flags team placed second with a score of 83.75 and the Song team placed 12th with a score of 78. Both Cheer and Pep Flags advanced to the Finals for Nationals on March 22. Pep Flags won second place and Cheer won ninth place.

“I’m so proud of them,” Advisor Ms. Marta Bourjeili said. “They have worked so hard for this all year, and performed at their very best, which as an advisor is all I could ask of them. There are teams competing from all over the United States—so making it to finals was a feat all its own.”

Pep Flags competed against 14 other teams. This year, the team competed in the Pep Flags Novice Division. In previous years, the team competed in the Pep Flags Division where the members would go against competitors who have been twirling since freshman year.

“This year, we placed in a division that was more us,” Junior Diana Ren said. “It’s the first time in years we actually made it to the second day so it’s really rewarding and I’m so excited that I’m a part of it.”

Cheer competed against 28 schools at the Nationals competition. The top 50% placed and as part of the top 35%, the team were able to compete in Finals against teams from both Friday and Saturday.

“I’m thrilled,” Captain Senior Annaka Besaw said. “As a team, we’ve worked very hard to get to this point and it’s been a major goal for us all year. To see it happen is such a great feeling.”

Song competed against 23 teams. Although they did not make it to finals, the members are looking forward to competing at the SHARP International 2015 Nationals Competition at Las Vegas in April.

“I thought we did well,” Senior Ashley Liang said. “We did our best. I’ve never been so tired after that routine. We were all hoping for second day finals but I’m happy we made it to nationals.”
For the last couple of weeks, the Pep teams have been practicing from Monday to Friday from 3-6 p.m.