The cheer squad competed in 7A all girl division at the third regional competition held in Wildcat Arena Dec. 1. The squad placed second out of the four places.

Thirty-five teams were signed up to compete with Fayetteville placing first place, Springdale finished third place, and Rogers placed fourth.

“The other teams looked very strong, and I’m excited to see how everyone looks at state,” said junior Layne Winn.

The cheer squad placed 2nd instead of first was due to a time infraction. Routines may not be over two minutes and thirty seconds. Usually there is a four second grace period, but it was not given in this competition. The cheer squad went over by only four seconds. If there had not been a time infraction, the squad would have beat Fayetteville by two and a half points.

“They performed well, but the time deduction was unfortunate, but it’s better for us to learn about that now versus at state,” said cheer coach Chantelle Rateliff.

There is always room for improvement. For example, the squad had one stunt fall and four tumbling touches that resulted in points being deducted in addition to the time deduction.

“There are some areas that we need to polish up for state, but if we work hard, I feel good about our chances to win,” said senior Tiffany Thompson.

Because of the time deduction and other performance errors, the cheer squad knows what to improve on for state.

“”We just have to keep working hard this next week and hopefully we can win Har-Ber its fourth state cheerleading championship,” said Winn.

Profits from the concession stands at the competition went to the cheer program and proved to be successful.

“It was a great fundraiser and opportunity to show off the wonderful facilities we have at Har-Ber,” said Mrs.Rateliff.