The bus ride home was quiet.

Not out of frustration, not out of mourning, not because their season was over, but out of “exhaustion,” as senior cheerleader Maddy Ziobro put it.

“This was the first time since December that everyone was able to be still and calm without thinking about the next competition,” Ziobro said. “It was peaceful.”

The cheer team had just finished the weekend they’d been working toward for months – state. Seemingly-endless hours on and off the mat dedicated to perfecting this year’s performance led the team to place fourth in the large group division – their sixth-straight top-10 finish and second-highest placing in program history.

Ziobro, a four-year member of varsity, including last year’s silver medal squad, said the team was “eager to do well” every day, which was important for a team needing “unifying” after nine seniors graduated.

“We realized there was a lot we could do to improve, so we strived to get better with every practice,” Ziobro said.

Going into state, Edwardsville had an impressive resume, placing second at the Sandburg and Oak Forest Bengal invites and winning the Lockport invite and the ICCA championship. Their conference competition was marred with illness and a lack of motivation, according to Ziobro, which led O’Fallon to win the Southwestern title.

That loss, an unexpected one, lit a fire under the team for sectionals.

“We were very intense at practice the whole week leading up to sectionals,” sophomore Izzy McOlgan said. “We wanted to prove ourselves as a team and show all the amazing things we can accomplish.”

The Tigers won the Farmington sectional by 4.03 points, a margin greater than the difference between the second-place Panthers and fifth place.

“Not only was it the highest score in Edwardsville history, but it was the best routine we put on the mat all season,” junior Maggie Bowser said. “As I stepped off that mat, I could feel my teammates’ confidence radiating … We showed that we could be undeniable.”

For Ziobro, the big win meant the team could start focusing on beating Chicago schools. When it came time for their performance on the first day of state, where they needed to finish top 10 to make the final cut, the team was right to stop worrying about O’Fallon.

“Everyone was so excited to compete but also nervous since it was a lot of people’s first time,” McOlgan said. “After our performance, we were very happy, … and I was so excited to compete the next day.”

The Tigers finished third in the large group on the first day, surrounded in the standings by Chicagoland programs. The Panthers? They finished 20th.

“We were all really excited,” senior Mary Wesley James said. “But we knew if we wanted to do well the next day, we had to put out a better routine.”

On the second day, the Tigers would perform in the mid-afternoon.

“On the first day, … we were very nervous, and it showed on our faces on the mat. We looked terrified out there,” Ziobro said. “The second day, you just have fun because you’re already top 10 in the state.”

James said her nerves had been calmed by the day two performance. The Tigers scored 92.28 points, their third-highest state total ever. Still, two stunt falls kept them away from a higher score.

“The performance on day two was not what we wanted it to be,” McOlgan said. “But we were still happy with the improvements we made from day one.”

Based on the day one standings, the Tigers knew they’d have to watch out for Lockport, Marist and Schaumburg. Edwardsville’s early time slot meant that they were in the lead as they walked off the mat, but a surprising Naperville performance (94.5 points) meant a podium spot would be hard to come by, as Friday’s top finishers were yet to perform.

Still, sophomore Karly Klette was excited for her competitors.

“I really wanted Lockport to do good because they are so nice to us,” Klette said. “So when they didn’t hit, I was devastated for them. Watching Marist, I was upset but happy for them.”

A disappointing Lockport showing (90.16 points) meant Edwardsville could still hope for a bronze medal going into the final performance of the day – Schaumburg. The Saxons finished day one in fourth place, over a point behind Edwardsville, but their day two performance was tighter, and their 95.7 point showing gave them the silver medal and Edwardsville fourth place.

“Obviously, the routine we put out there [on] day two was not our best, so that was disappointing,” Bowser said. “But one thing I learned from it was that not everything is always going to be perfect, and it’s what you make of it that counts.”

So, as the team was leaving the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington, the feeling for Bowser and the squad was “shock.”

“It felt very surreal and like everything was hitting me at once,” Bowser said. “It was the last time I would ever compete with some of my closest friends.”