Feature Photo By: Vanessa Guereca – Here, the team is performing in regionals.  At this competition, Rangeview took 1st place overall.

The majority of athletic teams at Rangeview only go on for a season that lasts a few months.  However, this Saturday December 9th, one team of Raiders that exists year round will go to compete at state: poms.

Last year, Rangeview’s varsity poms took 9th place overall at the competition, which was a very big success according to the girls who were on the team. Hopes are also high within the team for this weekend due to their most recent win at regionals, coming in first place overall.

With the recent temporary leave that coach Katie Termeer has taken, Tammy Strouse has been helping out with the team; she was the former coach of this sport.  Strouse has very high hopes for this weekend and speaks very highly of the team as a whole.

“We have really come together as a team,” Strouse stated. “Recently, we started working on team building in addition to routine building and that has made us stronger,” she added in regard to the team’s accomplishments thus far into the season.

Some members of the team have also spoken out on some challenges leading up to state.  Junior Kassia Wisneski talked about the experiences with the dance for state, which is choreographed by Bronco cheerleader Nikki Bronson, as well as some other changes this season.  She talked about having to “rebuild” the team in a sense due to how many team members graduated last year, but also said that this process has been going well and the team is just continuing to get stronger with time.

“We just recently changed our music [and] added new choreography … we have been constantly cleaning and running the dance for over a month to make sure it’s the best it can be,” said Wisneski.  “Some girls have never performed at state so the nerves are there but there is high energy on the floor which helps the team to perform better.”

Lindsey Duran is a senior and is also on the poms team.  Her experience is unique because she has been on the team for multiple years now.

“[This] season has been a little different, especially as a senior and a returner, a lot of people on the team look up to you and the coaches count on you,” said Duran.

Duran speaks to the amount of prior experience that the majority of the members have and how that different experiences from each team member is influential to the team’s success.  She claims that a major strength and advantage of the Rangeview team is the amount of diversity, allowing for each person to bring something different to the table. That is something many schools cannot compete with.

Speaking on the preparedness for the weekend, Duran said, “We have done everything in our power to be ready for Saturday, we have worked so hard.  Practices are tough but we have all been so motivated and good with rerunning [the dance] no matter how many times.”

Based on thoughts provided by the team members on the RHS poms team, it seems as though the team has experienced some challenges up to this point, but they are ready for the competition this weekend.

Wisneski said, “I am confident that our performance at state will be our best competition yet.”