The North Adams High School cheerleading squad recently placed sixth in the nation in the national competitions in Orlando, fForida. Front row, from left, Hannah Hesler, Julia Wagner, Carlee Garrison, Mia Scales, Karisah Hamm, Kensley Cornette, Bentley Schweickart, Emma Jones and Kensley Mathias; Back row, from left, Lilly Achor, Esmee Grooms, Denali Pence, Aubrey Gill, Cara Scales, Layna Pistole, Abbie Fields, Riley Kirker, Brooklyn Mahan, Myla Wolke, Kynsleigh McCleese, Kylee Moore, Addison Ormes and Kinsley Fogle. (Photo by Danielle Jodrey)
Peebles squad also part of national competition in Orlando
Peebles High School cheer competed in the DII small intermediate division at nationals and finished 21st based on a raw score during the preliminary round of competition out of 40 qualifying teams across the nation. Team members include Aiva Brumley, Bria Brown, Aleah Purcell, Megan Schmitz, Jackie Myers Addison Puckett, Taylor VanFleet, Kendall Young, Brooklyn Parker, Amryn Carroll, Kiera Bird, Kendall Myers, Kyliemae Hayslip, Izzy Hawkins, Katie Myers, Nevaeh Wilburn, Mackenzie Cooper and Olivia Ward. They are coached by Jodi Bird, Jillian Carroll and Haven Hopkins. (Photo provided by Jodi Bird)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
(Thank you to Sally Anderson and Jodi Bird for their information to assist this story.)
Just about anyone that has ever been involved in cheerleading at any level is familiar with competition. Whether it is local, state or national, you know that it exists and most teams want to compete at some level. For years North Adams only competed locally. Although they were well aware that there was more out there, they were content to stay where we were comfortable .
At different times North Adams cheer talked about moving out of the area but it never worked out. Four years ago they competed at BITS (Best In The State) and finished second. From there they were hooked and the girls wanted to do bigger and better things. The next year they attended OASSA regionals and qualified for state finals and won a state championship. Last year went even further into the unknown, attending Bluegrass Regionals in Lexington, Kentucky (the absolute epicenter of cheer in the nation) and received a bid to attend the national cheer competition.
The girls and their coaches did not think they were ready to tackle that but it certainly planted the seed and the dream grew from there. North Adams again attended OASSA regions and state competition and successfully defended their title, bringing home a second state championship. This year UCA added another category, called intermediate and the North Adams squad felt that if they put in the work they could compete and represent themselves, the school and the community at that level.
Once again, they attended Bluegrass Regionals on November 15 and received regional runner-up and a bid to Nationals. There was a slight hiccup and the girls had to attend a UCA camp to get credentialed before they were actually awarded the bid. The race was on and North Adams was able to get that done right before Thanksgiving and then were awarded the bid that they had earned.
Fundraising started in earnest with all hands on deck every waking moment. Through December and January the girls practiced at every possible moment, some days before they got on buses to go to games. The coaches had to make some significant changes to the routine so that the squad met the rules of the intermediate division and the girls took that all in stride.
On January 18, they once again attended OASSA regionals to see if they could qualify for state finals and also to get on the mat in front of judges as Nationals was quickly approaching. North Adams secured a bid to state finals once again, which will be held on February 22.
Then Mother Nature stepped in and decided that the girls didn’t need much practice before heading to Nationals. The team and coaches headed out to Florida to chase their biggest dream ever. The weekend was for Division II squads which have 1,399 students or less enrolled in their school. since this was a newer category and a lot of schools attended Nationals, the new intermediate category was split into large and small squad divisions. Peebles, who also attended, was in the small division while North Adams was in the large division.
On Friday morning the squads headed to the ESPN Wide World of Sports center and practiced on the football fields and then were able to go in and support Peebles in their preliminary round. Then it was back to the hotel to change and off to enjoy Animal Kingdom for a few hours., then back to the hotel to find a grassy spot in the yard and throw another practice and then change again and off to Magic Kingdom.
Saturday morning the squad headed to the iconic All Star Sports field, which is the one you see all the teams practicing on if you watch college nationals. Just stepping onto that venue was surreal. After practicing they headed back to the hotel to relax. Some kids went with family to eat and just had some general down time. They were not able to practice that afternoon as the cold was blowing in and practice outside would have been hazardous. The group loaded on the buses later that evening and headed back to ESPN for the first round of competition. Usually announcements of what teams advance are held at the stadium there but due to the late competition time and the weather everyone was told told to watch for it on Varsity TV around 11 p.m.
If you were on social media at all you have probably saw the video of the North Adams squad when their name was announced as going through to the national finals. About an hour later around midnight, Coach Sally Anderson received an email from Varsity saying basically “We read the wrong list, sorry”. The emotional roller coaster ride started. After sending emails with no response and a basically sleepless night, to ESPN Anderson went to find a real person.
Varsity did end up doing the right thing. They apologized and moved everyone who wanted to compete again through to the final round. The girls ans coaches had been from the highest of highs, to the lowest of lows, and back again within about 14 hours but they were going to finals!
After gathering everyone up and a quick team meeting to go over scoresheets from the night before, it was time to get ready again and head back to ESPN. The kids were determined to make the best out of the situation. They were determined to show everyone that they deserved to be there and they did just that. At the end of the night they had earned sixth in the nation. T
According to Coach Anderson, h”This was such a huge accomplishment on their part but none of it would have been possible without our school administration, our parents and our community. They helped them achieve their dreams on the biggest stage in high school cheer and it is something that they will never forget. And for that we are eternally grateful.”
The Peebles High School cheer squad also competed at Disney in the nationals and their coach, Jodi Bird, provided the Defender witht he following information.
“Peebles High School qualified to compete at the National High School Cheerleading Championship in Orlando, Florida,” said Bird. “Peebles competed in the DII small intermediate division and finished 21st based on a raw score during the preliminary round of competition out of 40 qualifying teams across the nation.”
The Defender wished to congratulate both the squads from North Adams and Peebles and their coaches for their outstanding achievements and their representation of their schools on communities.
