Within the past few weeks, Northwestern’s Cheer team has been busy making things happen out on the floor. For their preseason GPAC rating, the team came in 18th place, but after a wild season, their final scoring was in second.
Along with finishing second in the GPAC ratings, they also finished 22nd in the NAIA, which is higher than what the team had been expecting. In the preliminary rounds at GPAC, the team would come in first place and finish second in finals.
“The team was super energized,” explained cheer member, Nathan Tornow “now we are more hungry than ever to get back on the mat.”
Earlier on in the season, Coach Taylor Decker said, “We hope to finish within the top-2 ranking at GPAC to give us the best chance at the NAIA Championships. It is safe to say that the team far surpassed their coaches expectations.
Though the team surely had good placements and scores, the team still has skills that could be improved on. Tornow spoke specifically on the team’s expectations in the upcoming season. “We now know what we are fully capable of and should look to set our expectations even higher than before,” Tornow said.
Within this past school year, the team was unsure of how they would do and how they would place, but after this last competition, they are looking to continue to push the bar higher.
Overall, the cheer team had an extremely successful season this year. Between their crazy schedules and extracurriculars, the members of the team came together in the end to make it to the top.
Cheer team members who made the NAIA scholar-athlete list includes Zoe Bruflat, Lauren Eidsness, Kate McEwen, Faith Olson, Jenna Smit, Hanna Stratton, Megan Van Kalsbeek and Sydney Zeutenhorst.
The dance team also saw success and racked up four scholar-athletes: Abby Bender, Nicole Coward, Sarah Moews and Sarah Weisbrod.
“My favorite part of this year was realizing just how great we can be,” Tornow said. He expressed that, looking back, it made him excited to see how far the team could push the limit, and he is extremely excited he is to see what next year brings.
