On Nov. 2, the Jefferson cheerleading team advanced to Regionals for the first time in several years, placing seventh out of 12 teams. Because the team did not fall within the first six teams in the competition, they will not be advancing to the state championship.

“We gave it our all and had a great performance,” sophomore Kenny Chen said. “Even though the judges gave us a low score, making it this far was still a great achievement for the team. We are all proud to have our season end like this.”

In the first round of the 5A North Region championships, the Jefferson colonials performed eighth out of twelve teams, because of their second place finish at District Finals in the previous week.

With no points lost for technical deduction, the colonials still took deductions for their tumbling and dance. Because the team was scored by a new set of judges, they were scored lower in tumbling and dance than in the previous week’s performance.

Even though the team did not advance to round two, they still gave the performance of their lives.

“There’s no better feeling than looking back and seeing how far we’ve come as a team,” senior Daniel Fontenot said.

Jefferson scored a total of 187 points, just two points behind a sixth place finish which would allow them to continue to round two. Stonebridge, Briar Woods, Mountain View and Tuscarora High Schools’ cheerleading teams will continue to the State Championships.

Even though they did not advance to states, the team is proud of its performance on Nov. 2. The colonials hope to take the district champion title next season and advance further than they ever have before.

“The team did really well,” senior Emma Gee said. “We had a great time and left it all on the mat. Yes, it was disappointing to have missed finals by two points, but I couldn’t have asked for any more from my team.”