The pom squad won first place at Counties this Saturday, marking the team’s third consecutive victory and an undefeated competition season—a goal poms hasn’t accomplished in over 15 years. Additionally, captain Lia Pomerenk took first place for the captain’s award, beating out eight other contenders.

Their winning dance featured a contemporary section, a kickline and a poms and jazz section, sophomore Genevieve Meier said.

“Our first competition was in January but we started our season in August,” captain Judith Gertzog said. “The team as a whole gave 110% at every practice and was extremely dedicated toward overall improvement.”

Upon her arrival as the squad’s new coach, Alexa Ciesinski said that this year she attempted to make major changes in the girls’ mindsets to encourage this desire for improvement and victory. Some of these changes included work ethic, communication, attitude and positivity, she said.

“They knew it wasn’t going to be easy to obtain this goal, and that they were going to have to shift their mindset entirely towards practice, each other, and the team in general for them to succeed in the way they wanted this year,” she said. “They did just that.”

Determined to improve, the team relied on constructive criticism to elevate their dance to the highest level possible. After each performance, the squad looked closely at judges’ comments and tried to apply critiques to the dances.

“When we get scores back from judges of competitions, we see the weaknesses of the dance and either change it, or work on it to make it look better for the next,” junior Claire Brodsky said. “[At Counties], we had the most energy and cleanliness of the dance as a whole than any other time.”

This energy Brodsky talked about doesn’t come just from a clean and fierce dance, but from a strong connection with each other while performing. The girls attribute a strong team chemistry to some of their success in the competition.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better end to my time on poms,” Gertzog said. “Whether we win or lose, this team is definitely a family and I’m incredibly lucky to be a part of it.”