From within the purple inflated tunnel, Carlsbad’s latest mascot runs out, a cloud of smoke billowing behind him. The quad echoes with celebration. It’s only the third day of school, but already, students are bursting with Lancer pride.

With the new buildings and renovated softball field, it seems only logical to modernize the 57-year-old mascot that has persevered since CHS’s opening. Friday’s pep rally served as the introduction; the response: unrestrained pride.

“The students [decided on] our new mascot,” Principal Dr. Steitz said. “They designed it, got it from a company and shipped it out here to us.”

Although the knight in shining armor was certainly the star of the show, band, cheer and dance also enthused the crowd. All three began hours of practice weeks before school itself commenced.

“The Lancer Dancers practiced a lot over the summer, and we had a few practices this week to really get ready for the performance,” sophomore Sophia DiPietro said. “We initially learned our dance at the UDA camp in August at USD, [where] we won the “All Out” award.”

Technical difficulties arose during varsity cheer’s performance, but failed to spoil the mood; in fact, most students weren’t even aware of the problem. Cheer maintained their smiles up until the close of the routine, bringing ear-splitting support from the oblivious crowd.

“I think the performance went well, but the music skipped, so it threw off the counts,” junior Georgi Gnibus said. “Some people were doing it the original way, while others were going with what it was.”

Despite the near-90 degree heat, routines were performed full-out and Lancers responded with tons of energy.  Later that night, varsity football won against Great Oak with a twenty-four point lead, perhaps thanks to the twenty minutes of pure school-wide support.

“It was a good first pep rally for sure,” DiPietro said.