The varsity cheerleaders qualify for State after placing third in Sectionals this past weekend.  

The team has finally met their season-long goal of making the top five at Sectionals and advancing to State this upcoming weekend in Bloomington.   

“We overall accomplished our main goal. It’s always nice to win, but obviously the main goal of sectionals is to be able to qualify for state, which we did,” Natalie Wollard, senior varsity cheerleader, said. “We didn’t put out a perfect routine, but we put out a routine that was good enough that got us to where we needed to be.”

Though the routine included some flaws, Wollard says the difficulty of the routine and the passion the team put into the performance are what has allowed LZVC to carry on the legacy of going to State.

“For Lake Zurich, going to State is something that’s been a tradition every single year since State became a thing,” Wollard said. “We wanted to carry on this tradition to not let our school down and especially not let our alumni down.”

After the team “all came together, really pushed, and took accountability” for themselves this season, Morgan Beaudoin, freshman and varsity cheerleader said, she says she’s confident in her team’s performance at Sectionals.

“I was nervous the night before, but the day of the actual competition I felt really confident. I felt confident in my teammates that we were going to go out there and do our job,” Beaudoin said. “Going into the competition, I was kind of hoping to get first, but once we got off the floor, I expected either third or second so I’m actually really happy that we placed. We did have little issues in the routine, but I’m feeling more than prepared to go to State and hit a perfect routine.”

Both Wollard and Beaudoin are ready to “show everybody that we are Lake Zurich,” according to Beaudoin, as they head into this upcoming competitive weekend.

“If we do our routine like we know how to do it then I’m expecting really good results and hopefully making it to finals. I know we can’t go and have mistakes,” Wollard said. “I know we’re able to hit this routine perfectly and we know that we can do really well if we go out there and put out the routine we want, but with that comes every single person needs to be giving 110 percent. No one can slack off and no one can miss a beat honestly because you’re competing against the best of the best.”