The crowd gets quiet, the lights come on, and the music starts as the cheer and dance teams give it their all. This Feb., dance and cheer teams participated in United Dance Association nationals and United Cheer nationals in Disney World.

Dance progressed to semi-finals in the hip hop division and came in 12th place. Cheer finished 12th out of 28 in the nation and 3rd in Worlds out of 3. Dancer senior Alexis Landers feels that the team gave their best.

“There is so much talent, and we are lucky to be able to be a competitor,” Landers said.

The results for this year and last year for dance were about the same. Last year, they also made it to semi-finals in the hip hop division and placed 12th. Landers felt that this year was the greatest trip because it was her last year and all about giving her best.

“[This trip] was a great way to end such a memorable chapter with the girls I’ve been with since seventh grade,” Landers said.

This year, cheer competed in Super Varsity Division 1, and according to the team, it was a much harder category than  Large Varsity non-tumbling, which they have competed in in previous years. Senior captain Emily Davis felt that every cheerleader gave it their best and just had fun.

“Last year, we did a little bit better, because we won Worlds and we got sixth in Nationals,” Davis said. “Even though we didn’t win, it was still a really fun experience.”