IU Coach Julie Horine, a former IU cheerleader, said this year was her 26th year coaching IU cheer, having taken her first team to nationals in 1992.
The team had placed first at nationals the past three years. Because the team won last year, Horine said they knew they were going to make it to nationals for the 2015 competition.
“To say they’re extraordinary would be an understatement,” Horine said about how proud she was about the team’s placement at this year’s nationals.
Freshman Kaylin Lapel said placing second this year was a tough loss, but Horine was inspirational, telling the team “the only way to find success is to go through failure.”
Even though it was hard to believe at the time, the team turned the loss into positivity and it ended up bringing them closer together, Lapel said.
Senior Liz Cross said this team has been the closest in terms of friendship. She added that there were no cliques and they all got along like sisters.
Horine said she believes the future for the squad is “extra bright” and that the squad takes the disappointment as a challenge.
Fourteen cheerleaders out of the 20 on the team had never before competed for IU, and five fliers, including Lapel, were freshmen.
Cross said this year required more responsibility from her in leading the team and behaving like a role model for the younger girls. She said the freshmen this year are “absolutely amazing.”
Lapel said that being on the team requires a lot of hard work and dedication. She said she did not understand it fully until she had gone through it herself, even with the upperclassmen telling her what to expect.
“Sacrifices have to be made,” Lapel said. ”(The process) is hard to describe to people and you have to go through it yourself.”
Horine, Cross and Lapel credited Tony Nash, the main assistant coach that works with the Crimson Squad and develops the choreography, as being vital to the squad’s success.
“He’s really good at what he does,” Lapel said. “He’s good at pushing us to our abilities but really understands what we need.”
Horine said the competition is going to continue to grow and that they will continue to meet the challenge of competitors.
“It’s going to get tougher and tougher each year, in a good way,” she said. “Cheerleading is more competitive now than ever before.”
The top five squads competing are generally the biggest competition, Cross said.
Members of the squad have already started coming to open gym practices, creating excitement for the future, Lapel said.
Cross said she had similar thoughts, already seeing motivation for next year.
“Their hearts are so full,” she said. “They work so hard for everything.”
The cheerleaders spend the rest of the year supporting the school, said Horine. Nationals allow the cheerleaders to show their competitiveness.
“We want to show people the reason why we believe in Indiana,” Lapel said.
