Waking up as early as 4:30am on a Saturday morning to put on a full face of makeup, hair in a slicked back pony, fake eyelashes, and a big sparkly bow may not seem like everybody’s ideal weekend, but for Staples varsity cheer, this is the norm during competition season.

On March 16, Staples varsity cheer team made there way Worcester, Massachusetts for regionals and placed fifth in their category. This was following their third place victory at the state championship.

“It was amazing to get fifth place,” Harley Bonn ’21 said. “We worked so hard all season and to see that pay off was really special.”

The Staples cheer team additionally overcame many obstacles this season, including losing their two male members a few weeks into the season which took them out of the co-ed division and shrinking the team from 15 to 11 members.

“We definitely had a lot of challenges during the season,” Taylor Jamieson ’22 said. “But we came out of them stronger and we showed that with our placings at states and regionals. It was the best way to end the season.”

While the Staples Varsity cheer team is happy with getting fifth place at regionals, next year they are going to work even harder to place higher.

“We had the most amazing season ever, and I can’t wait to see how the team does next year,” captain Maddy Crouch ’19 said. “If they continue putting in all of the effort that we have this season, I know this team is capable of anything.”