By Stephen Smoot
They work on the sidelines to make sure that the athletes get the appreciation and support they need. Meanwhile, they also work on honing their own individual skills to create a precise product through diligent teamwork.
The team that cheers on everyone else now gets to bask in the glow of having the entire Shinnston area once again cheer for them. On Wednesday this week, the Cougar cheer squad once again takes Interstate 79 south to participate in state competition..
Cougar cheerleaders compete at the direction of Head Coach Mandi Brown who is in her 12th year leading and mentoring the team. Before taking over at LHS, she served as a youth cheer coach since 2004.
Brown has restored luster to a program that dominated in the first decade of this century. Lincoln placed second in 1996, 2008, and 2011, but won state titles in 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2007. Under Brown, they added another state title in 2022.
On November 8, the Cougars stormed into regional competition in front of their home crowd at Lincoln High School. The squad earned an 89.77, good for first place in the region and a berth in the state competition. Two years ago, she described her squad as both young and highly motivated
Competition opens at 10:30 a.m. at the Charleston Civic Center. Class AA opens up first with Lincoln will perform last among all Class AA squads, giving them a slight advantage over the field. Awards take place between the close of Class A and AA competition and the opening of Class AAA and AAAA at 3 p.m.
According to the WVSSAC’s Cheer Manual, competitions are conducted by a panel of a minimum of five judges. Rules limit communication with coaches and even, at times, with each other. The manual offers both hard and fast rules, as well as suggestions such as “do not allow crowd reactions to influence judging scores” and “keep a positive facial expression.”
Each team can either be awarded or also sanctioned points during competition. Squads that suffer a rules or safety related error can lose 20 per violation.
Either five or 10 points get awarded per category when judging execution. This includes dance execution (five), dance difficulty (five), tumbling execution (10), tumbling difficulty (5), stunt execution (10), stunt difficulty (five), choreography and creativity (formerly “overall appeal until 2021) (10), expression, spirit, and showmanship, (10), and overall effect (10).
A very specific rubric guides judges in determining the appropriate scores for appropriate individual and team execution in the manual, complete with photographs of each example.
In Charleston, the Cougars will face Tyler-Consolidated, Braxton County, Logan, Mingo, Doddridge, Scott, and Westside.