Hail to the Panther team. Cheer them along the way. Onward to victory for the glory of our team!

After performing this cheer at the Game Day competition in Cody Feb. 22, the Powell cheer team earned a first-place trophy. 

The competition is scored in multiple sections some which include crowd involvement, facial expressions, stunt work and transitions.  

“I feel like our kids went out there and did their very best,” Coach Mrs. Vicki Walsh said. “I was very happy with the outcome.” 

First- and second-place prizes were only awarded in this competition. Lovell came in second to Powell, and there were five other cheer teams competing. 

“There was lots of tough competition this year,” sophomore Morgan Schmidt said. “But we have put in a lot of work and I couldn’t be more proud of our team.” 

This year, the team consisted of 11 girls along with two guys (seniors Brody Karhu and Giordan Weimer), who were recently added to the team. This is the second year that Powell High School has won the Game Day competition. 

“The practices we had the week before the competition were a little rough,” senior Kailey Jurado said. “Most girls didn’t think we would do all that great.” 

The cheerleaders are mostly scored on crowd involvement, and they are given a scenario that might take place during a certain sporting event. The following cheers must be appropriate and well rounded for the given scenario. 

The Powell cheer team traveled to Laramie earlier in the year for another Game Day-style competition but did not place in the competition. 

“We took the judges’ comments and changed a few things in our routine,” Mrs. Walsh said. “I felt like we made the right improvements and it really helped us for the Cody competition.” 

Throughout the season, cheerleaders have joined and left the squad. 

“We have all improved so much from the beginning of the year,” Jurado said. “Not just individually as separate cheerleaders, but together as a team.”

The cheer team will travel to Casper for the state cheer competition in March.