Glen Burnie cheerleading isn’t an underdog anymore, and it knows that — in most cases.
But still, at Anne Arundel County championships, coach Jami McCoy can’t help but feel like it.
“I think because the county is just so good, I feel like there’s no underdog, or you know who the winner’s going to be,” McCoy coach said. “Everybody gets the same level of talent and skill.”
Such was the case when the Gophers won its second county championship this school year on Thursday night at Crofton High — the first time in program history it won back-to-back fall and winter season championships. Many teams reuse their fall routines with a why-fix-what-isn’t-broken mentality, but McCoy never liked doing that.
“I personally don’t want to watch it anymore,” she said. “And I think it gives excitement to the kids when they’re learning something new instead of doing the same thing they’ve been doing since August. Keeps them dialed in.”
The Gophers led the county with a 126.65 total, outscoring the lot in the stunts and pyramids category (39.4), tosses, dance and cheer (48.2) and jumps and tumbling (39.3). Glen Burnie also suffered the second-lowest deductions (.25), behind Crofton, which executed its performance flawlessly.
The Cardinals, featuring only nine cheerleaders, claimed second place overall (124.6) and Chesapeake finished third (123.45).
“Having clean hits, the energy level was so high for us, and I feel like maybe that was the difference,” McCoy said.
This victory was a refresh for Glen Burnie. The Gophers voyaged to the fall’s Class 4A state final with the intention to sweep counties, regionals and states for the first time. However, injuries to key athletes hobbled those plans and a lack of confidence on competition day toppled it completely. Glen Burnie finished second.
So, McCoy and staff switched direction.
“We focused on skills that were guaranteed to work out for them instead of trying skills that aren’t 100% all the time. We had a slip-up with our double back-flip then, which stressed them out because they weren’t confident,” McCoy said. “We referred back to what they are confident in instead of trying to push the envelope all the way.”
The Gophers will see if a sweep will be possible this winter starting with the Class 4A East Region championships on Feb. 7.