On Saturday, Nov. 20 the Cavalettes, Clover Hill’s dance team, won their first competition of the season. It was a clean sweep against Thomas Dale, Cosby, Mechanicsville and Midlothian, winning in every dance category. 

Although this is their first competition of the year, Senior Lauren Coles feels very confident, though the win did come with its own challenges.

“One of the challenges was communication, and spacing out our dances even when we were missing people,” Coles said.

Senior Cavalette Sophie Shearman understands that this will be her last year on the team, but looks forward to carrying on the memories and joys of being on the team.

“We have gotten to know Coach Smith and have gotten to know the freshman and sophomores and we all just come together as a unit. I have learned a lot of discipline and interacted with people I didn’t know well and I will miss performing at halftime and the support from the crowds,” Shearman said.

Junior Caroline Homes expresses that the Covid-19 pandemic was not easy for the team and protective measures, like social distancing, have made it difficult to form relationships and create bonds with each other.    

“Wearing a mask while dancing makes it a lot harder to build relationships with the other girls because we can’t be close to each other,” Homes said. 

While the Cavalettes have many challenges ahead of them, Sophomore Caroline Walker feels their ability to believe in each other and previous competition experience are their strengths.

“Coming back to school and making sure you have enough energy to come to practice and give it your all after a long day of school,” Walker said. “I’ll get more nervous as the day comes closer but I’ve done other dance competitions before so I know what to expect.” 

Coach Micki Smith, currently in her second year coaching the Cavalettes, also feels extremely confident in their development and abilities.

“The team is progressing in a great place,” Smith said. “They are always willing to try new techniques, and their technical skills are always improving.”

Coach Smith knows that they were ready for the competition and feels like all their practice has paid off in a positive way.

 “I think we are in a really great place right now and really excited to get to see what other schools have been working on,” Smith said. “We feel ready, soaking up all the practicing we have done and making sure all the details are there.” 

The next Cavalette competition is on Feb. 4: The Kelly Green Inventional. The Cavalettes will not be participating in the Competition but they will be performing.