By DEB BENTLY

Staff Writer 

“It was such a magic moment to hear our school’s name ring through the air in Florida,” recalls NRHEG Competition Cheer team member Adalyn Anhalt. “At that moment, I knew all of our hard work had paid off.”

Junior Isabel Stadheim remembers practicing before the three-day national competition began. “It was both terrifying and exhilarating,” she recalls. “Beating out over half the division the first day was definitely a shock to the teams who had no idea who were.”

The NRHEG competition cheer team consists of 15 girls from eighth through twelfth grades. After qualifying for national competition last fall, the group had been practicing and raising money for the five-day trip which began on Feb. 9. In addition to three days of competition, team members and many family members also enjoyed time at the Disney amusement parks in Orlando, FL.

With their annual season, which began last July, now officially at an end, all participants have an exciting set of memories to share, inluding the third straight state championship in their class and missing the final level of competition at nationals by a fraction of a point. Among the best things about the national event, according to sophomore Sierra Misgen, was “achieving our goal of making it past the first day of the competition.” Junior Brenna Sommer remembers hearing the announcement that NRHEG had advanced and saying to senior Grace Wilkenson, “We’ve got another day.”

Sommer comments that it was on her mind that she was completing the final season with seniors Wilkenson and Eva Wayne as part of her team. “I was terrified that we wouldn’t perform together again,” Sommer recalls.

Eva Wayne comments that she was thrilled to find herself at the allstar sports football field on Disney property; she is also glad to have spent some recreational time with her teammates as her high school career came to an end.

Competition cheer programs began for many team members back in elementary school. “We have immense pride in our program, school, and everything that we do,” says jun-

ior Payton Bunn. “We were in the big leagues; I was competing at a level that third-grade Payton had only dreamed of.”

Sophomore Madison Bogue commented, “Cheer isn’t easy. We have to have so much trust in our stunt group, and we all have to communicate so no one gets hurt.”

“I want to thank all of our current coaches, Joni Churchill, Jennie Bunn, Brooke Berg and Linda Stadheim,” said Wayne. “We obviously

owe them a great deal for their dedication and expertise.” Also on Wayne’s list are previous coaches who helped team members early in their careers, Michaela (Hansen) Alexander and Kari Buendorf.

Eighth-grade Addison Buenger also expresses her gratitude to the team’s coaches. “They have helped us through some tough practices,” Buenger recalls. “Finding out we were going to the semi-finals was amazing!”