Indiana Wesleyan University’s competition cheer team placed second at the Spartan Showcase in Missouri in their second competition of the season.
“During the routine they just killed it and scored really, really well,” Lindsay Reep, head coach of IWU Competition Cheer, said.
Reep said the team encountered a last-minute change the morning of the competition and had to have an alternate step in. The team took no deductions on the mat, which showed their flexibility and their trust in each other.
“We hit everything. The most perfect we could have with all of those changes,” junior base and tumbler Kiley McGill said.
With the team’s troubles, the Wildcats still left the competition placing second. Senior base Max McGrew said the team counted the Spartan Showcase as a win.
“We did so much better than any of us could imagine,” McGrew said. “Without Him (God), there is no telling what would have happened at that competition.”
Reep said the team was well prepared, had a good week leading up to the Spartan Showcase and that the team walked away very proud, even though they did not place first.
“First doesn’t matter, our score was big. It set us up with quite the fire to kind of take on the rest of the season,” Reep said.
The Wildcats said they plan to take that fire to the upcoming Wildcat Invite, which will take place at Indiana Wesleyan University. The team wants to increase the difficulty of their routine for an overall better and higher score.
“We’re going to try to get better scores on all our stunts and all of our skills,” McGill said.
McGrew said the team needs to clean up stunts and plans to add small details that will count for the score sheet, such as putting on a show for the crowd with their facial expressions.
The Wildcats are expected to see Missouri Baptist, along with 17 other teams at the Wildcat Invite, which will take place Feb. 9-10 in Luckey Arena.
