The Starr’s Mill varsity cheerleaders competed in the state tournament on Nov. 11. Overall, the team took third, losing to McIntosh and AAAAA champion Carrollton by a mere 0.16 points.

“We went into it not being nervous, and everyone was ready to do their best knowing it was our last time together as a team,” varsity flyer junior Hannah Defler said.

After not placing first or second at regionals on Nov. 4, the varsity team was forced to compete at sectional on Nov. 10. Timing issues and a dropped stunt, resulted in a disappointing fourth place finish at regionals. However, they fixed the issues at state and made it their best performance of the season.

On Saturday of the state competition, the top two teams tied and Starr’s Mill finished just under them, so the judges determined the winners by the slightest imperfection. The Panthers couldn’t achieve first place, but gave an outstanding performance finishing higher than Whitewater, a team Starr’s Mill had finished second to throughout the entire season.

“There is always room for improvement and we’ll be hitting the grindstone preparing for next year’s competition,” head varsity cheerleading coach Heather McNally said.

The team had a great season and will be back at it for the 2018 season, with now having a tough loss under their belt to motivate them.

“We’ll just have to customize a new routine, so we can bring home the state trophy next year,” McNally said.