The squad competes in three Jefferson District meets. In the first meet, the team finished fifth. Coach Hogue noted that this competition came a little early in the season The second competition was held last week. These two competitions are practice tests for the competing squads. Coach Hogue believes that her team will move up in the standings when the Jefferson District season ending tournament is hosted by the Flucos on Thursday (Oct. 18). This is the competition that determines the rankings for the District’s cheer squads for the season. It is the big event of the year in competition cheer The competition is scheduled to begin at the new high school at 6:30. The Flying Fluco team would certainly appreciate a good turn out of fans to support their performance.
In cheer competitions teams are judged on dance, cheer, stunting and tumbling. The Fluco competition cheer squad is joined by four additional cheer athletes, to make a 20 person sideline cheer squad for football games. The tumbling passes that many of the cheer squad members perform on the sidelines at home games are very impressive, requiring a high level of athleticism. The team also does a number of impressive cheers/stunts on the sidelines that involve lifts and twirling dismounts. The girls who are at the top of these lifts, and do the twirling dismounts are often referred to as “flyers.”
The captains of this year’s competition cheer squad are seniors Abigail Hutcherson, Ashton Stevens and Sarah Wheeler. Four additional seniors on the squad are: Ashleigh Cline, Amanda Downs, Skyler Hite and Hannah Yonce. There are four juniors on the competition cheer squad. They are: Raven Bransom, Mary Jane Gomola, Madalyn Guthrie and Antonia Wilson. The team also has four sophomores. They are: Julianna Elliott, NaTaryia Brock, Malaina Paige and Tory Stribling. The only freshman on this year’s squad is Kendall Baker, who Coach Hogue described as “a newbie with a dance background”.
Most of the girls on the competition cheer squad have been competing for Fluvanna High School for a number of years, so the team has a good deal of experience. Some of the cheer squad also have gained experience at nearby Camp Friendship. Although the team has seven seniors, there plenty of talented underclasswomen who presumably will be returning next year to provide a core group for continued excellence.
While coach Hogue is in her first year as head coach at Fluvanna High School, she served as the Junior Varsity coach last season. Prior to that she was head coach at Goochland High School for two years.
