Since its inaugural performance in 2021, Showdown has been a fun and entertaining way for Oak Park High School athletics teams to raise money for their sports. Starting two years ago, Medea Creek Middle School’s cheer team began participating as well.
This year, the girls decided on a theme of “M&Ms to Eminem songs,” with a fitting costume of yellow M&M shirts and backwards baseball caps. The cheer leads began the process with stunting, giving the dance leads more time to choreograph the dance. Still, the team experienced a few bumps while putting the routine together.
“It took some time for the girls to learn the dance and have all the girls hit the dance on the right counts,” freshman cheer lead Harper Ryan said. “Also, it was a struggle to make sure that they were safe in stunts because we want them to be safe.”
However, once they got the hang of their performance, the girls became more and more thrilled to show off their talent.
“I am most excited about hitting our stunts and proud that Medea can hit our stunts pretty well,” eighth grader Paige Esqueda said. “I’m also excited to see all the other groups’ performances.”
For these students, being in cheer allows them to express themselves, making showdown all the more exciting.
“I love performing dances and getting to show a side of me a lot of people don’t see, and I love stunting because it’s a unique skill and activity that many people don’t get to do and many don’t understand,” eighth grader Ella Macht said.
However, this experience isn’t only fun for the MCMS cheerleaders. Their cheer and dance captains are also enjoying watching the girls shine through their routine.
“It’s fun seeing all of the expressions when they do the dance full out, and I’m looking forward to our performance the most,” junior and dance lead Lisa Mandadapu said.
Being in showdown has also allowed the cheer leads to build connections with the middle schoolers, some of whom will end up joining the OPHS cheer team next year.
“I like getting to know these girls better and getting more excited,” freshman JV cheer lead Avery Calima said. “The thing I’m looking forward to the most is actually performing it. I’m excited to see how it all turns out.”
At the end of Showdown, the winner is determined by the fans, the majority being high school students and their families. While the cheerleaders do believe they have a strong, solid routine, they feel that their chances of winning are slim because most people will vote for their high school peers, even if the middle school routine is one of the best.
“When I was in sixth grade, MCMS cheer did receive the highest score from the judges, but the other team received more votes, so they won,” Macht said. “If we win, I would be surprised but so excited. We have worked so hard, so it would just be amazing if we won!”
