On February 7, the two game day cheer teams traveled to Florida to compete at nationals. The two teams competing were Varsity Coed Non-Tumbling Game Day and Junior Varsity Non-Tumbling Game Day. Competing against teams from all over the nation, the Wildcats- as usual- came out on top.

The Junior Varsity team was so far ahead of the other teams in the semifinals, they had no reason to be nervous.

“The chances of the team winning were already pretty high,” Head Cheer Coach Sarah Ellison said.

The JV team this year is a new team composed mostly of freshmen, a few sophomores, and one junior. They destroyed the competition at nationals and won first place in the nation.

“Being national champions is indescribable. It is the ultimate prize at the end of the season,” sophomore Avery Anglin said.

As for the Varsity team, who went straight to finals beating out 26 other teams from all over the nation, the competition was a little more nerve-racking. The other teams competed one more opportunity to compete than the Wildcats and received more judging feedback.

“During the varsity announcement, I thought I was going to pass out for a second,” Ellison said. “I knew in my heart that they gave their best performance of the entire year, but I also knew we were up against great teams from all over the nation.”

The Varsity team managed to hold their place, even with the different judge’s panel, and placed second in the nation for the second year in a row. Both teams worked extremely hard to get to where they are and were proud to return home champions.