The cheerleaders returned to the National High School Cheerleading Championships this year. The Junior Varsity and Varsity teams received bids to this competition for their Gameday and Traditional routine. The teams flew to Orlando on February 6th and returned on the 13th. 

Varsity competed in the preliminary round on Friday, February 10th, and advanced to the semi-final round! The team made history by hitting a zero-deduction routine in their traditional performance, as the school has never done this before in this division.

“Nationals was very successful as Woodford county had just started competing in our 2.5-minute routine again and now having a JV team as well, we did super amazing. It was very busy and tiring but we did the best we could. Being able to make it to semis in the traditional routine is a huge accomplishment in Woodford and it was just super exciting!” – Sarah Bradley (Junior)

The semi-final round was held the next day, February 11th and both teams completed this day since the JV team automatically advanced past prelims because of fewer teams. The Varsity team competed their Gameday routine bright and early and made it to the final round. As the team began preparing for their traditional routine, one of the girls began feeling sick and dizzy and drank several ounces of water and fluids in order to help it subside. In the warm-up room, she attempted to do her stunts but didn’t feel comfortable with her condition and unfortunately ended up having to sit out of the routine. She didn’t want to risk someone getting hurt and falling before we competed the next day. The team was taken back to warm-ups in an attempt to fix the routine but with all the stress, the coach made the executive decision to go compete with what they had and only mark the stunts (motions of the stunt without actually building the skill). Everyone hoped for the best and knew they had to focus on themselves. The team took the floor and did a remarkable routine. The stunt groups that were able to build, all hit (stayed in the air) and all they could do was hope for the best. In the end, the team fell short and did not advance as they did not gain enough points in the stunting section of the scoresheet since one group was marking but still placed 12th and were proud knowing they had already made school history since no other team at our school had made it that far in this division. 

The next day was Finals. The whole team knew they had a great chance of winning and taking home the national title. Earlier that day, the coaches had told the team that the judges wanted us to change the entire way we had always done our routines. Since the team had started cheering, they had always been told to bounce and be as hyped as possible but now, in order to win they wanted everyone to look as uniform as possible so the team had to completely redirect their focus to it instead of what they had always known. They worked hard to make specific changes and stayed extremely focused. While competing, the girls focused a bit too hard on the changes, and some mistakes were made, ending them up in 9th place in the final round. JV ended up placing 8th and 3rd in each of their divisions. 

While the team was a bit disappointed, the trip together was a great chance to bond with each other. The Varsity and JV girls got to spend time together and some even got closer to the coaches.

“Nationals was an experience to learn and grow with your teammates that are like family. Competing at ESPN Wide World Of Sports in front of the castle  is unreal. Taking the trip to Disney can be tiring from working hard but at the end of the day, knowing that you are with the people you’ve grown close to is the best feeling” – Addison Caudill (Sophomore)

• Both teams got to dress up and eat dinner together at the Rainforest Cafe in Disney Springs

  
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• The girls got to spend the day at Magic Kingdom

  
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• Varsity competing in the preliminary round

  
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• JV celebrating after recieving 3rd place

  
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• The Varsity team at after final awards

  
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