The school and student section have successfully secured the Zone 8 banner after all of the hard work put in by staff, students and the leprechauns on the Hill.

But that award is just the start of what should still be a banner year. 

Leprechaun and senior Will Mayer said, “It is still so important to still bring the hype and energy to every sporting event we can attend as a student body here on The Hill.”

Mayer also talked about securing the banner. He said, “It feels good and shows that hard work pays off.”

The Zone 8 Banner was not easily attained. Mayer said, “Winning the banner was a long and tiring process and was harder than I thought it would be. It was even harder just because there was so much effort and work that went on short notice. Within a week or two, celebrities were sending in videos for Cathedral and the Twitter account and my emails were well thought out and required a lot of my personal time and effort.”

 Mayer mentioned multiple times on how crucial it is for people to realize he could not have done this alone and that it was a group effort. “We’re crazy at every game in every student section and always go super hard,” Mayer said.

Mr. Anthony Calhoun, sports reporter for WISH-TV, is in charge of giving the banner award program. After delivering the banner to Hill, he only had good reviews. 

Calhoun’s appearance on the Hill required a school assembly. Mayer said, “It was great and really awesome to see everyone come together and see their work paying off. All the work is shown and seen through the banner hanging in the WAC. Students now see the expectation to attend events now to support friends and classmates which is awesome,” Mayer said. 

But the banner represents more than an enthusiastic student section at athletic events. “The school kills it in all student life here. The Irish Nightmare goes all out and if we set a goal we are going to go get it,” said Mayer.

Mayer made it clear that he couldn’t have done it without  students showing out and attending games. The student sections this year played the biggest part in helping the school win the banner.

There was a lot of behind the scenes work completed by the leprechauns to secure this award. This included running the Irish Nightmare Twitter account, which played a huge role in promoting the school to Channel 8. 

Mayer mentioned that the biggest thing learned is that the banner process is all social media based. He said, “If we did not post our student section on Twitter, we might not have won. A lot of the other schools did not stay active on social media and post which was a big reason for our win.” 

Calhoun told Mayer that the biggest reason Cathedral won the banner was a result of an impressive tailgate and social media presence. The Irish Nightmare and the school leprechauns did not ever take weeks off, Mayer said.  

Sophomore Libby Lewis said that she does believe the school deserved the banner for various reasons. “The whole student section always is sharing together as one and everyone always has a smile on their face especially at football games. We deserve the banner because we showed out at every game and made sure to smile and cheer so loud,” Lewis said. 

Mayer said, “Thanks everyone for all of the continued support on helping win the banner. We couldn’t have done it without the student body, and do not forget to keep showing out to athletic events, because they are fun. Go Irish.”