Coming off of last year’s amazing performance at counties (winning first place and the Spirit award in Division 2, the expectations for WJ Poms going into counties this year were on a whole other level. It was only the team’s second year in Division 2, and the team entered this season only returning six girls from the previous championship team.

The county competition is the biggest one of the year. There were invitational competitions beforehand at various high schools around the county, but the most important one for Poms is the county competition. The girls struggled a little bit throughout the exhibition competitions, not placing in a single one. They added a hip hop section to the end of their routine before the second practice meet, due to critiques from the judges that they didn’t have a solid hip hop section in their first competition. But the team was struggling to lock in, as they did not place in their next two meets. The week before counties, the girls pushed through and spent hours perfecting their routine to make it as good as it could possibly be.

“Counties is always really scary because it’s the last competition and it’s the one that really matters,” senior captain Liv Deen said. “The team worked so hard leading up to it. It wasn’t easy the week before but at the competition [but] we knew that we just had to give it our all because that’s the last time doing the routine ever.”

When competition time came, the girls were pumped and ready, and the crowd support came in full force, approximately 15 times the size of any other crowd at their regional competitions.

Performing second out of the eight teams in the division, WJ had a lot to live up to following an outstanding performance from Einstein High School. But the girls rose to the occasion. From the Pom Pom choreo with WJ’s very own drumline accompaniment, to contemporary and kickline portions all the way to the explosive hip hop section at the end of the routine, the girls performance was nearly flawless. The spotlight from the huge crowd at Richard Montgomery High School did not scare them, but rather motivated them.

“I think it helped us a lot to have the crowd cheering us on the whole time,” freshman Ali Becker said. “I think we did really well!”

When it was all said and done, the girls left it all out on the floor. Following performances from drumlines around the county, it was time to announce awards.

Junior captain Cara Tellier won third place overall for captains with her performance and

energy out on the court. The huge crowd’s spirit and sportsmanship had Walter Johnson repeat their victory in the spirit award, a distinction only the most spirited school gets every year. Unfortunately, the girls did not place in the overall standings, but they weren’t far off. The girls fell only nine points short of third place, showing their growth and how far they have come from their earlier competitions. Although this is the end of the road for this season, the girls have made their fans proud and have a lot of promise in this fairly young team.

“I can’t wait for next year’s competition season and hope to see more people out there!” Becker said.

As one of the few freshman on this team, she has a lot to look forward to following this great experience. But on the flip side, for one person on the team, this was their final performance.

“It’s sad to think it was my last competition ever, it doesn’t feel real that I won’t be doing it next year. I’m sad it’s over but I’m so happy that we just had so much fun and we won spirit!” Deen said.
Deen was the only senior on this young team and provided veteran leadership throughout the season. This county competition was her final “hoorah” and sent her off in style (and spirit). The Poms ended the season on a great note and have a lot of promise for the coming years.