For the first time in school history, Shores’ competitive cheer team is ranked in the state.

Officially ranked fifth, the Sailors are looking forward to moving up in the ranks.

“We went into the season with great potential to succeed,” said coach Kristia Whitaker, who leads a team of two seniors, nine juniors, three sophomores, and five freshmen. “We had a lot of key returnees and also some new talent.”

Tomorrow, the Sailors will host the Shores Invitational beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the main gym.

They have placed third in the Grandville Invitational, second in the Shores Invitational, second in the Jenison Invitational, first in the Shoreline Invite at Reeths-Puffer, and first in the second Shores Invitational.

“We have been performing really well, and I am really excited about the season so far,” freshman Katie Hill.

In postseason competition, the top two teams from each of the five regionals go on to the state’s Div. 2 championship, where Shores has high hopes to make the state tournament.

Senior Brittney Yabs said, “We are going to work our hardest to take our team to state, and we feel like we deserve to be recognized as one of the best teams in the state.”

There are three rounds to a competitive cheer meet: first round is focused mostly on jumps; the second round is focused more on gymnastics, jumps, and flexibility; and the third round is all about the stunts.

“We are good at all of the rounds,” coach Whitaker said, “But we need the most work on round three. We need strong stunts to become a better team.”

While team chemistry is important in cheerleading, the Sailors used tough off-season workouts to become one of the top teams in the state.

“A lot of us took gymnastics to prepare for the upcoming season, so we could be in the position we are in today,” Yabs said.