The school’s cheer squad made their first ever appearance at the annual UIL Spirit Competition Jan. 17-19 in Fort Worth, with the 24 member squad of cheerleaders from all grade levels advancing to the finals.

“It is rare that a team makes it to the finals in their first year performing in this competition, which makes this year’s performance a very impressive accomplishment,” assistant cheer coach Courtney Benson said via email. “Coach [Kandy] Stevens and I are super proud of everyone on this squad.”

Redhawk cheer finished 18th in 5A Division 1 with only 20 teams advancing to the final round, leading to a memorable feat for senior cheer squad member Peyton Leonard.

“It was a great experience and I’m happy I got to spend it with my team,” Leonard said. “A lot of the other teams that were there had been practicing since last March, and we had just started practicing a little over two months ago, which was quite intimidating.  For a lot of girls on the team this was their first competition style of cheer, but everyone held their ground and did their best which I am very proud of.”