Another year brought home another trophy for the Powell High School cheer team, as the Panthers tied for third at the Wyoming State Spirit Competition on Jan. 23 in Casper.

This year the Panthers opted to perform in only one category, competing in the 3A Game Day cheer, scoring 83.2 points to tie with Cody.

“I feel like when we only focus on one routine we really can concentrate on what we need to accomplish. I felt like this year we were very well prepared and ready to go,” coach Vicki Walsh said. “It truly is really hard to put together two solid routines in such a short time frame. With the elimination of the Co-Ed category this year we were not able to do that routine. We are hoping next year we can possibly do an all-girl stunt routine along with Game Day. We will see where our numbers are and how many we have on the team.”

While the Panthers could focus on only one routine this year, Walsh felt the competition was fierce at the top as Douglas took the top spot with 86.5 points and Mountain View was second with 84.6 points.

“The competition was really tight this year. There are a lot of really good teams in 3A Game Day,” Walsh said. “I really felt like we definitely had a shot at the top four after watching most of the teams go before us. I was just not sure where we would land, I was very happy with third place.”

Before the routine every year Walsh said she tells her team to perform their routine knowing they did their best, emphasizing that it isn’t all about the hardware at the end of the day.

“I really don’t want them to think it’s all about winning a trophy. Having fun and knowing they gave it their all is what is important,” Walsh said. “The trophy is just a fun side note to add to the thrill of knowing you performed your very best.”

She said the team worked even harder this year to avoid any deductions in their routine, helping the Panthers have a high score after having a 1.5 point deduction a year ago.

“You can quickly go from first place to out of the top four if you have them [deductions],” Walsh said. “From dropping a stunt, a prop or even an illegal move, you lose a lot of points when that happens. I was very excited when we got our tech sheet with zero deductions.”

She said the coaches are very proud of the team and their efforts for the season, as several seniors leave the team this year and will need to be replaced moving forward.

“All of my seniors leaving this year will be a big hole to fill. But we also have a lot of great kids coming back,” Walsh said. “Hoping to have a big turnout for tryouts, it would be nice to have a bigger team next year.”

Walsh added this year’s group has been fun, and they can now “relax a little and enjoy the rest of the season just cheering for basketball games.”