Proudly sporting their shining red boots and doing their drill in perfect unison, the girls’ drill team proved that they could make their way to the top.

Teeming with confidence, the drill team entered the 91st Annual Spring Drill Competition in the Presidio on May 15. Out of the seven competing schools — Balboa, Burton, Galileo, Washington, Lincoln and Mission — Lowell placed second behind Lincoln.

The competitors proved to be worthy opponents, with the standards appearing to be higher this year than the last. “The competition was tougher this year,” junior commander Julia Kwong said. “Everyone brought out their best in their routines and it was a challenge to compete with that.”

During the competition, the Cardinals kept the “wow” factor at the top of their list. Lowell always attempts to stand out by not relying on pre-recorded music but by using their own voices and bright smiles to their advantage. “Our drill aims to entertain the crowd, so we have to be extremely sharp and in sync with everyone else on the team,” junior member Cindy Huang said. “Our drill team is known for our perfection and we strive to deliver as much as we can.”

To prepare for the competition, the girls practiced all year, but they officially started to practice their routine as a team in February. They practiced for two hours every weekday and three hours on Saturdays. Junior member Ashley Zhang said she felt that practices contributed to snatching second place. “Although we only perform for six minutes at the competition, the amount of effort and practice we put into our routine beforehand made the competition worthwhile,” she said.

However, practice was not the only thing that contributed — a close-knit team also helped the team stay focused when heading to the Presidio. “After our constant practices, we felt more like a family going into this and, despite the outcome, we worked together for this entire semester for one competition,” Kwong said.

Although the team will lose senior commanders Kiana Carvajal and Jennifer Li, Kwong, Zhang and Huang look forward to leading the team to victory next year.