Flag Girlin’

When you're at Homecoming next week and you see nine ladies dancing across the field in sync with both each other and the band's halftime performance, it's not Christmas in October and they won't be followed by 10 lords a-leaping, those are the FHS Flag Girls attempting to twirl their way into your heart, while trying to stay in-step.

The group as a whole agrees that making the choreography look good, while staying in time and being spread across a large area is the most challenging task, but Alicia Ernst enjoys dancing across the field while doing tosses and spins and Tea Harris said, 'It's almost like dancing while you're running, so there is a lot of adrenaline involved.”

The unit is made up of eight juniors and a funny freshman, with the youngest member expressing appreciation for the kindness of her more experienced sisters.

'It's my first year and I don't know what I'm doing,” admitted Breen who is used to dominating her competition on the field.

'When I don't know what to do, I just twirl my flag and follow Sophie. The other girls have been so nice while teaching me the right way.”

Flag No.1

Sophie Miner, Jr.

Sophie joined because she wanted to make new friends and become closer with the ones she had. Credited as the groups best dancer, she enjoys the togetherness while 'adding art to the band.”

Flag No. 2

Delaney Breen, Fr.

The jokester of the nonet admittedly doesn't smile during performances, but that's because she is still focused on learning.

'One reason for me to do flags is because I'm better with physical instruction which makes learning this easier than a clarinet would be for me.”

She also wanted to clarify that her flag number was not an indication of her flagging abilities.

'I'm definitely not the second best!” added Breen with a laugh.

Flag No. 3

Kaitlyn Post, Jr.

Post flagged in middle school and said the biggest difference is the movement that is added in high school. Kaitlyn enjoys having fun together bonding and spending an hour and a half creating 'crazy” makeup like the flare look they recently used.

Flag No. 4

Destiney Gridley, Jr.

After flagging in middle school, Gridley took her freshman and sophomore years off before rejoining this fall.

While Gridley also runs cross country, she admits heading to practice after running a 5K isn't always her favorite thing.

'It's not the first thing I want to do after a race, but my team relies on my and I don't want to look silly on the field.”

The multi-sport athlete added that while it may not be a sport, 'Flags is definitely a team thing because we have to bond and stay together like sports does.”

Flag No. 5

Madelyn Hanna, Jr.

The junior flag girl who also swims for FHS, joined the group to make friends and finds that she has more options since doing so. When she gets lost, Hannah follows the group, same as everyone else ironically, and her favorite move is the ‘Around the world.'

Flag No. 6

Katie McClain, Jr.

The soccer player during spring joined Flags because of her friend Sophie, but is 'so happy” that she listened to her pal. Katie loves joking around with the group and although she's new, she's already learned to just wave her flag when she's lost.

Flag No. 7

Alicia Ernst, Jr.

A fan of the lasso toss, Ernst said staying together while counting and watching others is her biggest challenge.

Flag No. 8

Tea Harris, Jr.

Harris is a swimmer for the Trojans who, 'goes from practice to practice,” meaning she is always leaving one early and getting to another late. While her arms are 'always tired,” she credits the two activities with giving her 'monster shoulder muscles.” Her favorite bonding spot is either Arandas or Torino's.

Flag No. 9

Emily McAvan, Jr.

The third swimmer in the group was a flag girl in middle school and enjoyed it enough to continue into high school.

Not afraid to go big, McAvan, 'loves doing the big tricks like behind the back spins and crazy tosses.”