There’s no denying the Little Big Game on Saturday, Nov. 8, challenged the cheer team. But even in the face of injuries, health issues caused by the hot weather, and limited preparation time, senior Alice Huang said they still engaged the crowd with an impressive halftime performance, despite the 24-14 loss to San Mateo High School.

“I definitely felt a little bit unprepared because of the amount of practices we got to run this whole routine, but I think we did our best on the field with the amount of resources we had,” Huang said.

Junior Gracie Nielsen echoed that sentiment, adding that the team could have spent more time on the performance as a whole.

“Our team is very focused on doing the little things instead of working on big things as a whole,” Nielsen said. “So I feel like we might have wasted a lot of time on certain areas that we shouldn’t have spent so much time on.”

The halftime routine opened with baskets and stunts before transitioning into a dance to “Blood On My Hands” by Tate McRae, choreographed by seniors Alexia Thompson and Paige Cornelius. The seniors then had their highlight, where they danced to “Rock Your Body” by the Black Eyed Peas. The routine continued with individual stunts, another dance to “Bang Bang” by Jessie J, choreographed by Thompson and senior Katie Trevor, and ended with a pyramid topped by senior Eva Mercer.

Senior Mia Robelo’s acrobatic skills shone throughout the performance as she led the team’s tumbling with flips and handsprings. Despite the challenges, Robelo applauds the squad for their show.

“I’m so proud of us. I think the outcome was really good,” Robelo said.

As Nielsen reflected on the Nov. 8 game, she said she hopes the performance will set the tone for future halftime routines.

“I expect that our team should be able to work better next year, knowing that we have a lot of new people on JV and now they’re gonna be pulled up to varsity,” Nielsen said. “I hope that they’ll now have more expectations for how things are going to be run.”