The WJ Cheer squad poses with the Quince Orchard cheer squad and the Churchill cheer squad after the Invitational on Oct. 9. The WJ squad scored the highest in WJ history in the pyramid category in difficulty and execution. (Courtesy Holly Siegel)

The WJ cheer team had a stellar performance at the Long Reach High School Invitational on Oct. 9, breaking the WJ record for Pyramid difficulty and execution in a routine. The experience provided the feedback necessary for the team to make minor tweaks to their routine needed to, as their motto this year says, ‘bring the storm’ at counties on Oct. 26.
“I’m really proud of our pyramid because the difficulty was super high, and we still executed it very well,” senior captain Candice Nsoga-Mahob said. “I think we really brought energy to the competition through our dance, and we really hit all those poses.”
The Invitational was an excellent opportunity for the team to face off against other talented squads, which was especially important because many of the team members had never competed before.
“Our Invitational had a lot of really really good teams in the state,” senior captain Holly Siegel said. “We had state champions Glen Burnie there, along with one of our bigger rivals, Churchill, as well as Quince Orchard from Montgomery County. Usually at invitationals we don’t see schools from MoCo, so it was a little bit nerve wracking to see other schools from MoCo, because it’s like a little bit of a spoiler for counties.”
Looking towards counties, the team has been working on some minor adjustments to their routine.
“We are doing the same routine, but with some upgrades,” Nsoga-Mahob said. “We are upgrading our main set, and there are some things throughout the routine that our coaches are cleaning up to make it look more presentable at counties.”
With the limited time before counties, the team is making sure to nail down every aspect of their routine.
“I definitely think we need to work on the timing of our tumbling and making sure everybody is confident performing on the mat beforehand,” junior Shoshana Berger said.
Every year at counties, there is a spirit award given to the school with the highest number of supporters from that school. The last time WJ won the spirit award was 2018, but the cheer squad hopes students will have a high turn out to win it this year.