This Saturday, January 25, 2014, the Joliet West stands were packed with screaming and crazed fans for the Cheerleading Conference Competition.  Joliet west was the first team to step on the mat for the varsity blue division. The crowd went wild for their performance, and the cheerleaders were buzzing with excitement and adrenaline.

Conference is the main competition for all teams in the area to compete for conference champions. Most of these teams compete against each other in Sectionals and State. Conference is a good opportunity to see what each team is up against and how the scores match up compared to each other.  Conference is divided into two divisions, red and blue. Joliet West is placed in the blue division, along with Lockport, Bolingbrook, Joliet Central, Sandburg, Lincoln Way East, HF, and Stagg. During Conference, divisions such as small, medium, large, and coed, do not matter. They compete against each other no matter what division size they are in.

In the blue division, the top five teams placed in order were, Lincoln Way East, Joliet West, Lockport, Bolingbrook, and Sandburg. The top three teams were neck and neck, and all the scores were very close. Joliet West was .13 away from first, and scored the highest score in all of Joliet West cheerleading history. The team is very excited and confident for the upcoming Sectionals competition.

“We did great at Conference, but we can do so much better. If we want a chance at getting top five in Sectionals and going to State, we really need to step it up and give it our all. If we go in confident, I believe we can do it,” says Jenna Thomas, a flyer on the Joliet West Cheerleading Team. All of the teams have an idea of where they place, and are all working hard to achieve their goal of being top five at Sectionals and continuing on to State. Conference is only the beginning of the hard work, sweat, and tears that is yet to come.