Close sectional finish gives cheer team boost to state

Photo by Alexandra Chertok

The words “This Is Our Year” written in green and gold across a piece of white poster board were at first just inspiration to senior Jeniah Griggs. But the words soon turned from inspiration to truth as the list of teams who qualified for the State Finals was announced, and she learned her team would advance to state for the first time in Glenbrook North cheerleading history.

“We just heard, ‘Glenbrook North,’ and then all of us just started jumping up and screaming, and I felt bad because we screamed all the way until they announced the first place team because we were so excited,” Griggs said.

On Jan. 26, the varsity cheer team came in fifth place at the Skokie IHSA Cheer Sectional in the Large Team division with a score of 80.87, qualifying them for state. The top five teams from each sectional advance to the State Finals.

Head Cheerleading Coach Greg Wilhelm said after checking the IHSA website and seeing the lineup of the other teams they would be competing against at sectionals, he knew that the fifth place spot was within reach.

Griggs said many of the teams eyeing the same spot had outperformed the Spartans at previous competitions. Since she knew sectionals would be a challenge, Griggs wanted to inspire her teammates to go all out in the practices leading up to sectionals and found a video to show them on the Monday of sectionals week to add some extra motivation.

“[The video] focused on the idea [that] you have to work just as hard when no one’s watching, so that when you go perform for everyone, you’re like 10 times better,” she said.

Griggs said she soon heard her teammates echoing what was said in the video and saw more intensity at their practices. 

“Everyone was more focused,” said Griggs. “We were setting goals for ourselves, correcting each other and taking corrections and not being sassy towards each other.”

After a strong week of practice, Wilhelm said his nerves kicked in during the moments prior to the team’s performance while he was preparing its music.

“I knew we had a chance,” said Wilhelm. “I knew we could do it, and I remember just going to push play on my phone and my finger was shaking. [I thought], ‘Alright, all you’ve got to do is push play, you can handle it. These kids, they have to do a full performance, all you have to do is push play.’”

Despite a stunt fall, senior Jenna Gloss said the team was shocked by how well it did after their routine was over. 

“We were all just crying [and] hugging each other thinking, ‘That’s it, that was the last one.’“I remember hugging Jeniah, and we were both crying our eyes out, and I just didn’t want it to end,” Gloss said.

Gloss achieved her goal, beating out the No. 6 team Rolling Meadows by just .3 of a point, allowing the season to continue.

Wilhelm said the slim margin by which the team won was indicative of the little improvements the team made this year, such as their motions. Motions in cheerleading are judged by how in sync, direct and sharp the team is with its movements. 

Griggs said this year the team was more willing to take judges’ comments seriously, many of which were about their motions.

“For our stunts and our tumbling, there’s only so much we can do to practice that, and if they hit, they hit, and if they don’t, they don’t,” said Griggs. “But motions and jumps are things we can sit at practice and focus on … because the judges commented when we did better in the little categories rather than the bigger categories because those little categories all add up.”

Through this, the team saw their scores rise from the high 60s to the low 80s, which, according to Griggs, is the highest the team has ever scored. Their previous scores were low compared to other schools in the area.

Heading into state, Gloss said the team knew it would be a challenge to place highly.

“We knew we had a lot of competition, like, these are the best teams in Illinois, like the best of the best, they’re insane,” she said.

Wilhelm said he remembers seeing the pressure in the girls’ faces build up before they went out to perform.

The team finished with a score of 69.81 at the State Finals, which took place from Feb. 1 to Feb. 2. They finished 24th out of the 25 teams at the competition.

Despite struggling in their performance due to stunt falls, Gloss said she enjoyed her experience at state. Much of this was due to support from the girls’ parents who “went all out for the fan section” and decorated the team’s bus.

Griggs said another reason she believes the team had such a successful season was because of how close they became. 

“When we’re at practice and we’re giving corrections, it’s not like, ‘This girl hates me [and] I don’t want to listen to her,’ like, we all listen to each other and are there for each other,” she said.

Wilhelm said he has not seen a team with a rapport as strong as this one since he began coaching for the program.

“These kids [were] all excited they got spray tans together … [so] instead of saying, ‘Spartans,’ at the end of practice, they’d say, ‘Spray tans,’” said Wilhelm. “Just those little things, the small connections they have with each other, the friendships [help] motivate each other, really, they felt comfortable pushing each other.” 

He said the team is especially excited to get the year “2019” on the board that lists cheerleading’s postseason accomplishments in the Main Gym.

Gloss said it is fulfilling to be a senior on the first team to make it to state.

“It’s crazy thinking that we made history, that this year is the year,” Gloss said. 

Griggs said the team’s cheer is emblematic of their progress throughout the season. 

“We do a part in the cheer that says, ‘We’re bigger and better, a new gold and green’, and then, ‘Spartan nation, we say what we mean,’” said Griggs. “So I think that would probably be my favorite [line] because I feel like we’ve grown so much since last year, so [the cheer is] saying that we’re like growing and we’re going out and proving all the hard work we’ve done.”