Lakeside picked up its first state cheerleading title since 2018 during the State Cheerleading Championships held at Bank OZK Arena last month.
The Rams varsity cheerleading squad won the Class 5A state title on Dec. 18 with Benton finishing as runner-up. Last year's top two teams -- Lake Hamilton and Sheridan -- finished third and fourth, respectively.
The state championship marked the 20th for Lakeside head cheer coach Judy Morton, who is responsible for helping build up that tradition. Aside from winning, Morton says she takes most pride in the intangibles that cheer competition lends to young women each year in their personal scholastic journey.
"There are so many lessons in all sports," Morton said. "And, you know, you learn to work as part of a team. You learn responsibility. You learn commitment. You learn hard work, and that's the one thing: when we win like this, I'm so glad because it shows them, 'Yes, in life, if you're willing to work, you usually succeed.' And that's probably my number one lesson for them. Things that are worth having are going to require work. And if you work, it probably will happen for you."
The team's journey was not an easy one due to restrictions imposed on the athletes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Of course, this year, obviously, was weird because we had no spring practice because of COVID," she said. "I don't know that it messed people up. I mean, everybody basically had the same shot because none of us could do anything. They finally let us start back on June 1, but we couldn't do any stunting -- which, if you're practicing anything in the offseason, that's what you practice because that's the hardest thing to get."
While the team normally takes off in July, Morton and the Rams cheerleaders practiced throughout the summer this year.
"We didn't take July off because we didn't have April and May," she said. "So we practiced pretty much June, July and August. They let us start stunting on Aug. 1. ... I had quite a few veterans coming back, so I think that's why we were able to do some more difficult things. We have a very high level of difficulty in what we did."
In cheer competition, judges base their decisions on how a team does on the routine's difficulty and its execution. To achieve the desired level of execution, Morton said that it took a great deal of practice.
"These girls are willing to work," she said. "I mean, starting Oct. 1, we start practicing six days a week instead of five because we practice on Sundays also. And usually our first competition is the first weekend in November, so we go three weeekends in November and then we have the first two weekends in December and then state. But they're willing to do that, which is good because being a teacher, too, and all this technology making things easier, sometimes people aren't willing to work anymore. So when you find a group that does -- I mean, I couldn't say enough good things about this team."
The Rams cheerleading squad did extremely well in all of its competitions this season, earning high-point awards over top 6A schools such Bentonville, Rogers and Springdale in Northwest Arkansas.
Morton said this year's group was unique in their maturity level and noted the girls became a family over the course of the season.
"Well, it's interesting because, especially the stunt groups, there are four people per stunt group and it's amazing -- from the time they start together as a group till they start going through the process and get to the end -- how they really grow," she said. "They're very close because you have to really trust each other in a stunt group because if someone doesn't do their part, there's going to be an accident, you know, and sometimes an injury. ... With the entire team, after every competition -- they were on Saturdays -- on Sunday before practice we would meet in my room, we would watch the video, we would talk about what we needed to do differently, what we did well. And I was just so impressed by (the fact) they could openly critique each other without people getting upset. ... I kept saying, 'We want to help each other,' you know, 'We're a team. Let's listen to each other,' and this team probably did that better than any team I've ever had."
Morton says they would not have been able to win with the support of the school administrators.
"They are very supportive and in a school situation you have to have that kind of support for the level that we try to go to," she said. "It's just a good situation all around."