If memorable stories are about overcoming adversity, it’s hard to think of a much better story than the Republic cheer squad’s performance at the Missouri Cheerleading Coaches Association championship in Columbia Saturday. In six days leading up to the event, the squad had to rework its entire routine not once, but twice. And despite the obstacles, they still finished second in the Co-ed Small Division.
The Showcase
The Drury Showcase was intended to be a simple run-through, six days before state. A chance to “get some nerves out and show off our routine,” according to coach Shannon Dunn. It turned out to be a lot more complicated.
“We flubbed it up really badly,” Dunn says. “Definitely not our best performance.”
When the team showed up for practice Monday, Dunn had gone back to the drawing board with a new routine. After two more days of practice, the squad was back where it began — ready for a strong performance, and with one final chance to show off their routine to an audience.
The Injury
At the week’s second cheer showcase, in Republic Wednesday night, Dunn says her team had “perfected it. We absolutely nailed it. It was a flawless performance.”
Team members went home liking their chances for a strong finish in Columbia. That all changed again Thursday morning when the team got news that Eli Motley, the only boy on the co-ed squad and one of its strongest tumblers, had broken his foot after the showcase ended.
“Word spread through the school pretty quickly. We gathered together Thursday afternoon for our practice, and we just did the best we could, and for the second time that week, we had to make some pretty major changes to adapt to Eli,” says Dunn. “We knew he was still able to stay in and do all of our stunts, he was just not able to do any tumbling.”
Dunn says she’d never seen her team as down as it was after receiving the news of Motley’s injury.
“Morale was as low as it’s ever been. I just did my best to keep the entire squad energized,” she says. “We still had a chance. They had shown me that. For the last three months, we’d been working on this routine.”
But Dunn says convincing team members was another story. After practice Thursday, she could tell her cheerleaders still had doubts. So instead of leaving for Columbia right after school Friday, as planned, Dunn called one more practice.
“In 24 hours, those kids went home and I guess they talked. When they showed up for practice, it was a different set of kids,” she says. “We only had to do the routine one time and they nailed it. I knew they were secure enough that they could go in and have a solid performance.”
The Finish
What’s a solid performance, according to Dunn, JV coach Victoria Henbest, and choreographer Matthew Massey?
“With the setback with Eli, we just wanted those kids to go out and give, for three minutes, a routine that they could walk off the mat knowing they gave 110%,” Dunn says.
They did much more than that. Performing the routine only two days after they’d learned it, the Republic cheerleaders finished 2nd out of 15 teams competing in Columbia.
“I would have been happy with top three,” Dunn says. “Second place for us was very, very sweet. The team we came in behind was Grain Valley, and they are a superior team. To be ranked behind them, it’s an honor.”
The Republic cheer squad has certainly experienced success in the past. They won their division at state in 2010, and finished 2nd in 2011, before falling to 7th last year. But this year’s finish may be remembered less for the final result, and more for what the team overcame to get there.
“When those kids stepped onto the mat, they left their hearts on that mat, without a doubt,” Dunn says. “I could not be more proud of them.”
Get every story delivered.
Tiger Wire — Republic sports news, free every morning.