Stone Memorial Lady Panthers cheerleader Lauren Bray will take on a new leadership role in her second year.
Bray will receive the role of cheer captain this season. Several freshmen were elevated to the Stone cheer team, making Bray one of the lone upperclassmen left. Bray looks to build off her first full season cheering at Stone, where she was named a recipient for the Pin-It Forward Award. Bray said the team has built trust throughout the summer.
“I just really like the teamwork that we’re in, the atmosphere, just everything involving cheer is just so good,” Bray said. “And then going to camp with the high school team and our middle school team, it was just so fun getting to know our middle school team on a deeper level.”
Bray completed United Christian Academy cheer camp last week, where the Lady Panthers finished in second place. Stone Memorial also finished second in both sideline cheering and camp routine at Tennessee Tech’s recent cheer camp. Bray said her team learned a lot while at both camps.
“We learned so many things about our girls and how they are cheering,” Bray said. “We learned a bunch of new stunts and we got good with team bonding.”
Bray said she wants to enjoy time with her team.
“It’s really important to build trust with the girls, to get your stunt group comfortable with each other, to have your top girl trust the girls underneath them,” Bray said. “When they’re falling, you trust them to catch them.”
11 girls make up the Stone Memorial cheer team this season.