The Jefferson cheer team competed at the National District Finals, beating Mount Vernon placing seventh out of eight teams on Oct. 16.

Jefferson started the competition off with a simple chant with poms, signs, and stunts. Their routine included two right hurdlers, a toe-touch, one left hurdler and two high pyramids.

The Jefferson cheer team was close to getting perfect marks. However, due to a minor injury, an elite stunt could not be performed. This led to a slight, last-minute change in the performance that lowered their scores by ten points.

“Unfortunately, my stunt group couldn’t go up because of Curie’s injury, but I’m still really proud of how all of us did,” freshman Julia Zherdetski said.

In addition, senior Ahmad Barokah and junior Grace Guan were named National District All Stars and are now in the all-district team.

The Jefferson cheer team will be competing at the Regional Cheerleading Competition at South County High School on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021.

“We hit a lot better Saturday. We really gave it our all,” Zherdetski said.