LHJH cheerleaders earn 2nd at nationals

The Sentinel-Record/Lorien E. Dahl BIG FINISH: Lake Hamilton Junior High cheerleaders perform during a send-off routine Feb. 10 at Lake Hamilton Wolf Arena. The team earned second place in their division at UCA nationals in Florida on Saturday.
The Sentinel-Record/Lorien E. Dahl BIG FINISH: Lake Hamilton Junior High cheerleaders perform during a send-off routine Feb. 10 at Lake Hamilton Wolf Arena. The team earned second place in their division at UCA nationals in Florida on Saturday.

Lake Hamilton's high school and junior high cheer squads each advanced to the final round of national competition this weekend, and the junior high team walked away with second-place honors by the end of competition.

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Submitted photo RUNNERS-UP: Lake Hamilton's junior high cheerleading squad placed second in the Universal Cheerleaders Association National High School Cheerleading Championship Saturday in Florida. Team members, from left, in front are Ellie Glover, Maddy Atkinson, Abby Hunter, Abby McMahan, Ana Terrazas, Christin Harris and Savannah Brown, and back, from left, are coach Brian Bridges, Raegan Hickam, Katie Gundy, Larynn Sisson, Lindsey Jordan, Caitlyn Cox, Farren Simon, Jaci New, Lexi Janske, Emily Magby and Rachael Walston, assistant coach.

The junior high cheerleaders competed in the Small Junior Varsity division of the Universal Cheerleaders Association National High School Cheerleading Championship. The trip marked Lake Hamilton's first to UCA nationals.

The 27 teams were divided into two groups for the semifinal round. The top eight teams in each group advanced to the finals.

Routines began at 7 a.m. Saturday in the ESPN SportsCenter Pavilion on the grounds of the Wide World of Sports complex in Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla. The junior high was coached by Brian Bridges.

"The venue alone served as a motivating factor for my team," Bridges said. "They did not want to compete in the pavilion and then call it quits. They wanted to make it to finals and compete in front of the castle in the HP Fieldhouse."

Arkansas does not have a qualifying competition for junior high. The team received a bid through a video submission judged by a national committee.

Bridges said the team executed a near-perfect routine in the semifinals with just a few small timing issues. Lake Hamilton incurred no deductions, stunt falls or drops.

Teams from Arlington High School in Tennessee and Madison Central High School in Kentucky were contenders in the same division a year ago and were placed in the same group as Lake Hamilton. The junior high team competed in the Junior Varsity division because a majority of the cheerleaders are freshmen.

Bridges said he was confident Lake Hamilton qualified for the finals, but was unsure of their placement. Lake Hamilton was ranked as the top team in the division. The team's goal was to qualify for finals and place in the top five.

"I completely lost it when I opened up the score sheet and rankings packet with my girls," Bridges said. "I never would have dreamed in a million years that we would be ranked first going into finals. It was such a surreal moment."

The junior high cheerleaders cheered on the high school team during their six-hour break. The high school competed in the Small Varsity Coed division against 37 other teams.

Lake Hamilton High School placed second in the 5A-7A Coed division at the 2015 Arkansas State Cheerleading Championship Dec. 19 at the Hot Springs Convention Center. The team is coached by Tara West.

National bids are not awarded based on rankings. Teams must score high enough at state to earn a bid to nationals.

Lake Hamilton was among the top 20 teams in the Small Varsity Coed division to advance to the finals. The high school team eventually placed 18th in the division.

Bridges said the junior high team executed a flawless routine in the finals Saturday evening. He said they "cleaned up their timing issues that the judges noticed during semifinals and left the crowd on their feet."

"My girls were absolutely perfect during the final round of competition," Bridges said. "They nailed their routine better than I have ever seen it done before. They truly gave it all they had and left their best on the mat. When we were watching our routine playback in the holding room after we got done competing, it was nothing but celebration, tears of joy and a huge sense of pride in the room.

"I told the girls that we could leave the competition right now, without hearing awards, and I would be the proudest coach in the country."

Lake Hamilton began to celebrate during the award ceremony Saturday night when they were revealed among the top three teams with Arlington and Madison Central. The celebration continued when Madison Central was announced as the third-place team.

Arlington took first place by just two points. Bridges said he was happy with the second-place finish in Lake Hamilton's first foray onto the nationals stage in UCA.

"No one knew who we were when we got down there," Bridges said. "The announcers didn't even pronounce Pearcy correctly when they first called us out on the floor in semifinals. To have the competition directors and event staff coming up to your girls after a performance and asking who they are and where they are from is very, very special."

Bridges said the team enjoyed an emotional celebration after the ceremony.

"This team is very special to me," Bridges said. "It is my final team that I will coach at Lake Hamilton Junior High since I will be focusing strictly on my communications coordinator duties next year.

"The team is the most talented junior high team that I have ever coached. The work ethic of my girls this year was outstanding. We had 7 a.m. practices each and every week during competition season. Although I am going to miss coaching these girls next year, I assured them that I would still be around supporting them and being one of their biggest fans."

Lake Hamilton's cheerleaders expressed gratitude to administrators, businesses, individuals, organizations, school board members and teachers for their support during the season.

Local on 02/10/2016

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