Photo: Alice High School Cheer
This weekend the Alice High School Cheer Team competed in the UIL statewide competition. The cheer team placed fifth overall in the 5A D2 division, a massive achievement for the team and our community.
The cheer team is led this year by coaches Jessica Cantu and Lisa Cisneros, who have been with the school district and cheer team for many years.
The cheer team first competed in the preliminary round where they had to compete with various other schools. Brooke Castillo who is the Cheer Captain for the 2024-2025 school year spoke to the Gazette shortly after the team learned they had qualified for finals.
“The way I feel about my team going forward is unexplainable,” Brooke began. “Of course, moving into a new division was scary, but we had no doubt in our mind that we were going to be able to see another day on that mat.”
The cheer team went on to compete in finals on Saturday morning, leaving it all on the mat. Then, it was a grueling wait to find out what place they had earned. Minutes felt like hours, seconds felt like minutes, before the team had learned the outcome.
“I love this team so dearly and the mindset moving forward is to go all in and leave no regrets.”
— Brooke Castillo
After weeks of hard work, the Alice High School Cheer Team finally learned that they had placed fifth overall for their division. The Gazette spoke with Jessica Cantu about the team’s placement.
“Our team didn’t get where they are on pure talent. Anyone can be talented and they are talented, don’t get me wrong. This team is what it is because they are coachable,” she said.
“They listen and soak up everything their coaches, their captains, and teammates tell them. And even more importantly, they got to where they are because they love. They love what they do, they love their community, and they love each other which is very evident if you’ve ever been surrounded by AHS cheer.”
“They did everything that was asked of them and we couldn’t be any more prouder.”
— Jessica Cantu, Cheer Coach
The UIL competition is still fairly new, having began back in 2016. But now the Alice High School Cheer Team has set a high bar for their successors in the years to come.