TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) - Last year, Cheer Nation Athletics sent four teams to Summit, which is essentially the Olympics of cheerleading.
CNA left with a bitter taste in their mouth, as all four walked away empty handed. As four teams are set to compete this weekend for Cheer Nation, there's one theme with the gym, and that's redemption.
For the final move in Apex's Summit routine, a fake ring is pointed to.
"When you win Summit, you get a ring," said Isabel Hutchinson, who competes for Cheer Nation's Apex team. "Knowing that it was in our hands and we let it go last year."
Apex let starting off in first slip away to fifth, and this year, they've revamped everything to make sure that feeling isn't felt again.
"We've had a different style of practice. We've practiced a little harder, we've held the girls to higher standards every day," Dana Brown, who owns CNA.
"Our tumbling's changed, our stunts are different," added Precious McDonald, who is on Apex. "Everything is different."
"Change is good," said CNA owner Dustin Baker. "Some people fear change a little bit, and we just kind of dove into it head on, and just released the reins a little bit, and this is what the result was."
The result? Four teams, Halos, Black Ice, Senior Crush and Apex, will compete at Summit this weekend. All four are looking to leave their mark.
"I'm really excited," stated Sydney Forslund, who competes with Black Ice. "We've been trying to get there for like five years now, so now that it's our first time, we've been pushing really hard."
"It was hard at first and it was frustrating doing thing stunts were harder than we've ever done," added Hutchinson. "Hopefully it'll pay off this weekend too."
"This year I think that we've really set ourselves aside from the other people we're going to compete against," said Baker. "That's what's created the excitement, because no one really knows what's coming this year."
But they will, when these girls get to wear that ring for real.
