As the Friday night football games come to an end, competition season is about to start. Captains Sloan Wozniak and Cate Foughty said they hope to win big this competition season. 

Senior Sloan Wozniak 

Sloan Wozniak became interested in cheerleading as she entered sixth grade. Cheering at Killian, provided Wozniak with the opportunity to cheer on the sidelines of football games, but she had a passion to perform, which led her to try out for Hebron Cheer in her freshman year. 

“I knew deep down when I tried out [that] I really wanted to be [captain], but I didn’t think I had the skill level for it,” Wozniak said. “So, I tried working hard throughout the years, and I had to get my tumbling better. I [also] really worked on my leadership because I knew that’s what the coaches were looking for.”

After struggling with her tumbling, Wozniak said she decided to work harder. At the end of her junior year, to try out for cheer captain, she had to create a cheer routine and answer three essay questions about leadership.

“[Sloan] pushes her teammates, but she’s welcoming and leads by example,” head cheer coach Courtney Jackson said. “She is respectful and a hard worker — I have seen her push herself in and outside of the cheer gym to gain skills that she’s been struggling on.”

Throughout her cheerleading career, Wozniak said one of the lessons she learned was that the only obstacle stopping someone from doing something is themselves. Over the years, she has been able to learn new skills for tumbling and become better at it. 

“I really struggled with getting my tumbling to [be] good enough to be captain, and I had a huge mental block,” Wozniak said. “I was scared every time I did a flip because I thought I would break my arm or fall on my neck, but it’s just you who’s stopping you from doing the things you want to pursue. I had to overcome my mentality, and that’s what got me to where I am today.”

During her sophomore year, the cheerleading team placed fifth amongst 60 to 70 teams at UIL State. She said her goals for this year are to create a close-knit team and bring home a first-place win.  Wozniak said she hopes to replicate previous cheer captain Landon Hill’s leadership and create a team where the cheerleaders are able to express their opinions. 

“I think it’s really important that [Cate] and I present our team as talented in the cheer perspective, but also smart and kind to everyone,” Wozniak said. “I feel like we do a good job at that, [and] I really enjoy having the opportunity to represent our team for the whole school. I like being able to communicate further with our coach, have insight into what is going on with our program and [discussing] ideas for how we can improve it.”

Senior Cate Foughty

In tumbling class at seven years old, Cate Foughty’s mom decided to check her out early one day. While waiting at the front desk for her mom, some at the front desk asked why she didn’t do cheer. Ten years later, she became captain for Hebron Cheer.  

“I enjoy having an input on stuff and getting to lead my team,” Foughty said. “I get to share ideas and organize stuff for my team [and] it’s pretty cool.”

Jackson said that even though Foughty was injured and tore her ACL, it didn’t stop her from trying her hardest and overcoming her adversity. 

“She has a lot of years of All-Star cheer experience, and has been cheering for so long,” Jackson said. “She leads [by] example, and [is] respected in that way since she knows what she’s talking about. When she offers corrections or advice, people listen to her and it’s delivered in a way that is challenging, but kind.” 

Joining Hebron cheer freshman year, Foughty said she didn’t think she would be cheer captain. She said her favorite time to cheer is for Friday night football games, regardless if the team wins or loses. 

“I enjoy all the friendships I make,” Foughty said. “[Cheer] is just an escape from reality sometimes when things get hard.”

As high school comes to an end, Foughty said she might join the University of Oklahoma in the all-girls team, but is still deciding. She still has high hopes for this school year. 

“My goal for [the team] is to win UIL and NCA [National Cheerleaders Association Cheer] because that would be really cool,” Foughty said. “We haven’t won UIL before [or] NCA in 10 years, so it would be cool to bring it back.”