By Sports Editor: Danielle Hamilton

The ladies on the Howell varsity pompon team work all year round for just three major competitions. This includes the High Kick competition, regionals, and states. In the past few years, Howell has excelled in each of these competitions and this season has been no different.

On November 3, Howell took first place at the High Kick competition which was held at Saginaw Valley State University. Howell competed in the medium division, which is according to the number of girls on the team.

In the High Kick competition, each team has their own unique “theme”. Last year, Howell dressed up as leprechauns. This year, they were Chiquita Banana ladies. Howell stunned the judges and the crowd with their upbeat routine and always perfect kick line.

The regional competition was held at Northville High School on January 18. To qualify for states, a team must garner a certain amount of points. Howell performed well and gained enough points from the judges to qualify for the state competition.

“Regionals went really well. We used our scores to help prepare us for states,” says senior Sarilya Barbaro.

The last part of the season for Howell pompon will be states. The state competition will be held at Michigan State University on February 8. Howell will be competing in Class A against 14 other teams such as Garden City, Canton, Franklin, Novi, and Heritage. Last year, Howell came in second place behind Garden City.

Howell has the potential to come out on top. Six out of seven days of the week, they practice for three hours. The dedication and heart is there, now they just need to show it to the judges.

“After doing well at regionals, we are feeling very confident in ourselves. We have worked very hard in the past ten months and we are going to close out the season on a good note,” says Barbaro.