Pep Rally sets tone for season of fun, Viking spirit
At 2:30 p.m., students quickly packed together to enter Gym A. The kick off to the 2019 athletic season opened Sept. 6 to a sea of navy and gold, bright lights, dancing, and shouts of VFND. The theme was Country Goes Hip Hop.
In an attempt to open up the football season, the pep rally focused on hyping up students and staff to support Viking Pride.
“I’m very excited about the first pep rally,” head varsity cheer coach Colleen Bryant said. “I think this pep rally sets the tone for the season. It’s a boost for our student athletes and showcases our band, cheer squads, and drill team. It’s Lamar Pride at its finest.”
After the fight song, the drum line roused fans and fueled a spirited frenzy.
“I was proud of my team. We had practiced a lot. I felt excited and the crowd reacted great to our performance,” drum line captain senior Josh Wehr said.
After weeks of practice, the ViQueens performed to Cardi B’s “Wish Wish” as shouts and cheers from the crowd filled the gym.
“I thought the pep rally was fun, especially when the drill team performed,” sophomore Tyianna Millsap said. “I have friends on the drill team and I thought they did a great job. I know they spend a lot of time learning dance routines.”
With a hula-hoop skit from Thor Corp, fans broke in laughter and danced to Megan Thee Stallion’s edited song, “Cash.”
“We’ve got crazy ideas for the pep rallies this year,” senior Asher Guevarra said. “Get ready big dawg.”
The three cheer squads lead the crowd in class chants with varsity performing the “Texas Two Step/Cotton-Eyed Joe” by Rednex.
“The performance would have been better if the music had synced properly,” varsity cheerleader junior Will Crain said. “Other than that, I thought we performed well. The crowd was really pumped. I’m looking forward to the other rallies. Our stunt sequences will be impressive.”
The 30-minute Friday afternoon rally united students and staff.
“Pep rallies are meant to be fun and bring people together which why football is a BIG thing here at Lamar. Pep rallies are viewed differently throughout other students eyes, but for band kids, we tend to look at it as a way to cheer on our other Lamar family organizations. It offers students another family which is a really great thing since we’re all one big team at our school,” sophomore band student Alexsandra Jimenez said.
With five rallies scheduled for the year, students and faculty can anticipate more theme days and building of Viking Pride.
” I’m looking forward to seeing all students getting excited for their school and future accomplishments. I hope the pep rallies encourage students to want to be more involved in school spirit,” sophomore ViQueen Averie Garcia said.
The pep rally ended with the school’s alma mater playing and Viking fans flashing the “Big L” forever more.