After a season of "pleasant struggles," the competitive

cheer team won City for the third year in a row.

"I would describe our season as a pleasant struggle," junior Nicole Bertapelle said. "We were moved to Division 1 with schools twice the size of ours, but we did our best to keep up. Our rounds were some of the best we’ve ever had, it truly was an amazing season. We overcame every obstacle possible: from girls quitting to new injuries every week, but this only made us a stronger, more astonishing team."

On Feb. 22 at Reeths-Puffer, Shores came in first at City with the scores of 218.8, 211.76, and 306.8 for a total of 737.36.

"Winning City for the third year in a row felt great. It was our final competition of the season, so we were able to end with a win," coach Amanda Heethuis said.

The girls said City went better than expected.

"Our team was confident going into the competition, but I don’t think any of us expected to win by so much." senior Jessica Taylor said.

Bertapelle agreed that winning City felt amazing, even though she had to watch.

"Winning City three years in a row felt amazing," Bertapelle said. "The teams were looking better than ever, so to come out on top was thrilling. Although I couldn’t compete because of my back injury, I was proud to watch my team perform the best they have all season."

Being a senior, Taylor said it meant a lot to win her last competition.

"Ending my high school cheer career with such an important win over Reeths-Puffer was incredible, and I couldn’t have asked for a better way or a better team to end my season with."