On Saturday, Jan. 21, the duPont Manual cheerleading team competed in the Louisville Invitational Tournament, coming in fourth place in medium varsity.

“I was happy with their performance,” Coach Valarie Tackett said. “They had two falls, but I believe without the falls we would have made first or second place.”

The team, however, was disappointed with its placement in the competition, despite the coach’s happiness. “I was disappointed in myself and the team over all. I was expecting not to place because we weren’t working to our full potential. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard,” Brittany Perry (10) said. 

“I wasn’t surprised [at getting fourth place],” Jhana Wadell (11) said. “There were some pretty good teams out there that looked good and worked hard. We procrastinated and started working hard the week of the competition, so I don’t think we deserved it.”

Coach Tackett and the team are working on ways to improve for the next competition.
“We are working on perfecting our routine by changing the stunts and
tumbling so that next competition we can win first place,” Coach Tackett said.