Panther Growls » Drill Team

Panther Pride Performs at Cotton Bowl

rojasd — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:38:52 +0000

Panther Pride is still thrilled they were selected out of hundreds of high school drill teams in America to perform at the 75th annual Cotton Bowl.

“We were at officer camp, and they extended to us the invitation because our officers were very successful,” Panther Pride Director Johnna Walker said. “They thought this might be something our girls would enjoy.”

Walker said that since they were on the off year of their biennial trip, they could take that opportunity and go to the Cotton Bowl.

“This was our contest year, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to try something new and we would just reduce going to another contest,” Walker said. “Usually we have two competitions, so we just went to one, and I gave the team the option if they wanted to then they could go to Cotton Bowl.”

Walker said she was excited about the girls having this “wonderful” opportunity.

“I was very proud of these girls because they got to perform in front of 85,000 people” Walker said, “and to get the experience to be part of such a big field production gives the girls a different view point.”

Senior Captain Morgan Berger said all the girls were very excited when they found out.

“ It was a pretty big deal.” Berger said. “At the time we didn’t know that A&M was going against LSU so it was really good to know that we were cheering for a Texas team

Berger said the day of the game was an exhilarating moment for the girls.

“The size of the stadium was breathtaking.” Berger said. “Game day was crazy, I couldn’t even hear the music because of the of all the fans in the stands.

Morgan said this opportunity made her senior year so much more “special.”
“I felt blessed to have the opportunity to go to Cotton Bowl because not many teams got this chance to do what we did,” Berger said.

Sophomore Kirsten Kindred said her parents “cant get over the fact” their daughter was in the Cotton Bowl.

“Being there was a big deal for my parents,” Kindred said. “They were so proud of me that they cried. We saw it as a step to my dream of becoming a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader.”

Christmas Spectacular set for tonight

ahadnot — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:25:29 +0000

The Panther Pride will be presenting the fourth annual Christmas Spectacular tonight and this year, there have been a few changes. Some of the dances have been re-choreographed from the past three years, but the songs will stay the same.The audience should expect a fun and exciting show filled with traditional Christmas songs that everyone knows and loves.

Capt. Morgan Berger said the team has been practicing since before football season ended.

“I cannot wait until we debut all of the hard work that we have put into the Christmas Spectacular,” Morgan said.

The show starts at 7 p.m. in the Tom Jack Lucas Auditorium.

Panther Pride wins awards at Forest Festival

vcamarillo — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:25:39 +0000

The Panther Pride drill team competed in the Forest Festival Sept. 22 and took home a few awards.

“The officers won first place in the lyrical category, the team won first place in the pom category, and the team received the overall top score of all the teams that competed,” Director Johnna Walker said. “We practice every morning beginning usually around 7:30-9, and then we practice after school two days a week from 4-6 or 5:30, depending on what we need to do. The girls had to balance not only learning their field routines, but they also had to work in their pom routine.”

Walker said this year’s pom routine is more challenging than in past years.

“The pom this year is a very different pom from what we’ve ever done,” she said. “The movements are more contemporary/jazz rather than cute and fun, and it’s very tough and very intricate with a lot of arm movements.”

Capt. Morgan Berger said that having six lieutenants to lead the team with her helped lighten the load.

“For anything that I couldn’t handle on my own, I could count on them to be by my side and help me out,” Berger said. “The whole team was really dedicated, and obviously, you can tell they worked hard and it paid off. I’m very proud to be called their captain this year.”

The JV Drill also won first place in the jazz category.

“We were up against a JV team, a varsity officer from Huntington, officers from Diboll, and a team from Huntington,” JV Drill Director Debbie Hemphill said. “The team this year is a group of very hardworking, sweet girls, and they’re having a great year and were excited to win.”

Panther Pride readies for competition

ccole — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:32:56 +0000

Written by: Celeste Cole on February 19, 2010 at 12:32 pm

The Panther Pride Drill Team has been hard at work on over 20 competition pieces which they will take to Kilgore Junior College on Feb. 20, to participate in the Gussie Nell Davis Dance Classic. There are a total of 28 dances, consisting of 20 solos, 5 team dances, and 3 officer ensembles, meaning the team must work very hard in preparing for this competition.

According to Director Johnna Walker, what is needed from the girls as they enter into competition season is “hard work, dedication, and a positive attitude.”

The drill team has practice every morning from 7:30 am to 9 am, and after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 pm to 6 pm. Sometimes practice may conclude up to an hour late, in the case that there is a large amount of “cleaning” to do. During these productive practices, the officers assist Walker in “cleaning” dances.

“My main job right now is to clean all of our dances,” Captain Madeline DuBose said. “Meaning we might do a particular part of a dance over and over until it looks perfect. It’s a lot to do, but that’s why the team and I must keep an optimistic attitude and be willing to work.”

Before practice daily, the Panther Pride works out conditioning their bodies for the long practices that take place during competition season. In order to remain healthy and in shape, Walker stresses the importance of having a healthy diet so the girls will have enough energy for practice.

According to Chelsie Brazeil, a returning member to the team, Walker always tells them to not drink soda.

“But instead,” Brazeil said, “Waker tells us to drink lots of water, and to ‘make sure you’re eating’, which means to eat a lot.”

With competition being less than a week away, the Panther Pride drill team is working hard to be prepared for this competition.

“Competition is important because it allows the team to compete against area drill teams and to have the opportunity to be exposed to other dancers,” Walker said.

Some members may be experiencing their first competition performance, but it also may be the last for others. The Panther Pride seniors view this year’s competition as bittersweet.

Senior and officer, Maegan Mahoney, said with competition coming up, she is reminded that her drill team career is coming to an end.

“I’m sad that it is my last competition,” Mahoney said, “but I feel that our dances are definately better than last year and I’m sure this competition is going to be the best one yet.”

The Panther Pride Drill Team is notorious for winning many awards at competition and it seems as though this year will be no different. What Brazeil is looking forward to the most for this year’s competition is “the reward of kicking butt.”

The team will perform all of their competition dances at “Show-offs.” The solo/duet show-off will be 5 p.m., Feb. 17 at the Lufkin Middle School Auditorium, and the team Show-off will take place the 6 p.m., Feb. 18 at the Lufkin High School Purple Gym.



Panther Pride prepares for Christmas Spectacular
vcamarillo — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:45:12 +0000
The Panther Pride has begun preparing for their Christmas Spectacular show on Dec. 17.
“It’s just a really short kind of recital where Panther Pride does a lot of dances that are all Christmas-themed,” Captain Madeline DuBose said. “It gets everyone in the Christmas spirit.”
According to DuBose, most of the choreography has been kept from the first Christmas Spectacular show two years ago.
“Most of it stems from the original ideas of the officers of 2008, who were the first officers to put on the Christmas show,” she said. “But this year we’re changing a few of the dances and the opening number. The opening number is kind of supposed to follow The Polar Express, and we have a train.”
DuBose said a short playoff season gave the drill team more time to practice for the Christmas Spectacular.
“Now we have the rest of November and all of December to prepare for the show. It’s the only thing we have going on,” she said. “Last year we only went to the second round of playoffs, so this year we only have one more week than last year, but of course one more week makes a lot of difference.”
Director Johnna Walker said the team practices in the morning and after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“They start about 7:30 in the morning, and they practice until 9,” she said. “Then they practice after school until 5:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so that’s three hours a day two days a week and an hour and a half two days a week.”
Walker said the team first learned the finale and the squad routines, which the girls had to sign up for to determine which group they would be in.
“What we try to do is we honor seniors, who either get their first or second choice,” she said. “Re-runs usually get one of their three choices, and as much as we can honor new members’ requests, we do, but sometimes we have to put them in a dance that maybe was their fourth choice, depending on different dances and their popularity.”
The JV Drill also has a part in the Christmas Spectacular.
“The JV Drill does one routine for the show, and that’s ‘Hot Chocolate,’” JV Drill director Debbie Hemphill said. “They’ve done it every year, so it’s a traditional thing for them. They’re the elves, so they also do all the skits between performances.”
Sophomore Kaitlyn Cook said that as a Panther Pride new member who was on JV Drill last year, she has a bigger role in the show this year.
“We do a lot more dances this year. In JV Drill we only had one dance and did skits, but this year I have four or five dances,” she said. “It’s fun, it’s a lot of hard work, but the hard work will pay off.”
Junior Brooke Lazarine said Christmas Spectacular will have a variety of dances.
“There’s a jazz dance, a lyrical dance, a character dance, a tap dance and of course the finale at the end where we kick,” she said. “We have all these different kinds of dances, so there’s something for everyone.”
The drill team will present the show five times on Dec. 17th only.
“It’s a one-day-only type thing,” senior Christie Squiers said. “We perform all day on the 17th at the middle school, and then we have one showing in the evening for parents and family.”
Panther Pride members will sell tickets for $7 each. Tickets will also be available at the door.