FHS cheer and dance are among the top teams in the state.
On Jan. 19, the Panthers traveled to Mocksville for one of their biggest contests of the year, the N.C. Cheerleading Coaches’ Association State Championship. Despite inclement weather casting the entire trip into doubt, the team earned second for their Traditional routine and third for their Game Day routine.
“We had to, at the last minute, ask parents to drive,” said assistant coach Bonnie Peggs of icy roads preventing them from using school buses. “Coaches are not allowed to take any of the athletes in our own vehicles, and so we had I think four parents who offered to drive and went with us and stayed. We were supposed to leave at 11 o’clock but we didn’t leave until 4:30, and so instead of getting down there and [having] more time, when you get down there you’re rushing and all of that. … To not have that made a difference, so for them to come in second and third was really pretty remarkable.”
After a frantic day of finding parents willing to drive, the team finally left town more than five hours behind schedule. Having arrived at their hotel near 11 p.m. Friday night, the team faced even more disruptions to their schedule the next morning.
“Normally we check in for warm-ups and go right in – it’s five minutes, we go through and do all of our warm-ups, and then we get in line and we go on,” said head coach Lynn Baker. “Once we got in there it was 45 minutes from the time we checked in until we actually got to go into the warm-up, then after we got off of the warm-up, we waited another 30 minutes before we actually got to go on the mat. That’s very different, and it’s not ideal for us. It’s not how we train and practice for things to go.”
Between the delay in getting to Mocksville and a hurry-up-and-wait warm-up, the Panthers could have been forgiven for being thrown off their game. With second- and third-place performances however, the team showed why it’s one of the best in the state.
“We put on the most difficult routine that Franklin High School has ever had,” said Baker. “We had to compete in Division 1 because we’re classified as a 3A school, and they separate the divisions with 1A/2A in D2 and 3A/4A D1. … So, we had to compete with the big dogs, if you will, and they kept up with them.”
Against powerhouse 4A programs, Franklin more than held their own, taking zero deductions from judges to continue a recent trend for the team. For All-Region selections Kaylee Zachary and Brianna Quiroz, a “perfect” routine is the goal every time they step on the mat.
“We always set goals, like we did today, for what we want to accomplish,” said Zachary after a recent practice. “Most of our goals were to hit with our technique, and so usually what I do is go out and think about my technique.”
“There’s no certainty that you know you’re gonna hit zero, but like [Zachary] said, if you go into it with a mindset of, ‘Oh, I’m gonna save my stunt,’ you have a pretty good chance,” said Quiroz.
With top-three finishes at the state competition, the team entered their final weeks of practice with a full head of steam. After placing 15th in their Traditional division at last year’s Universal Cheerleaders’ Association National High School Championships, the team will return to Orlando Feb. 7 for both its Traditional and Game Day competitions. In competing in both divisions for the first time in program history, veteran seniors Lauren Shannon and McKenzie Holland said the team has come a long way since their freshman year.
“It’s pretty crazy because our freshman year, we didn’t meet hardly at all because of COVID, and we had virtual competitions and stuff,” said Shannon. “We didn’t really start competing until our sophomore year.”
“I think from freshman year to now, I’ve definitely seen how much our difficulty has increased,” said Holland. “Not necessarily the numbers on the team – the numbers have increased, but [not as much as] the skills have. We’ve been able to do a lot more difficult stuff than we were doing our freshman year.”