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SMHS cheerleaders bring home national championship
By Carey Phillips
One year after a second-place finish, Smoky Mountain’s cheerleaders returned home from Atlanta Sunday as national champions.
The squad took first place in the medium varsity division (15-20 members) of the Cheersport National Cheerleading Competition at the World Congress Center.
Smoky Mountain’s cheerleaders, shown performing at a recent basketball game, won the national championship in their division Sunday at the Cheersport National Cheerleading Competition in Atlanta.
The girls performed Saturday and Sunday and compiled 851 points out of a possible 1,000. Parkwood High from Monroe was runner-up with 820.5 points.
“Saturday we had one stunt come down,” Coach Kim Buchanan said. “On Sunday they gave a perfect performance.”
Even with the problems with Saturday’s stunt, the overall performance was so good that Smoky Mountain held a slight lead after the first round.
The competition attracted more than 1,900 cheerleaders representing more than 800 teams. SM’s division had six finalists that had qualified from regionals across the country.
“They had to overcome so much this year including Ashley Derks’ wreck and some girls quitting,” Buchanan said. “They’ve had a hard year. For the past month, they’ve worked six days a week, three hours a day. They found out what will happen when you work like that.”
Derks recovered from her accident and was able to compete at Atlanta. Katie Setzer, who injured her knee at the regionals on Jan. 30 in Atlanta, was unable to perform.
Buchanan said she was especially happy for the five seniors who stuck with the program. They include captains Whitney Watson, Brianna Douthitt and Cara Wittekind along with Louisa Madill and Brittany Thompson.
Watson said the hard work paid off. She said coming so close last year was a motivating factor for the squad.
“We had more advanced stunts and were tighter as a group and had more spirit,” Watson said of the difference from last year. “It’s a great way for a senior to go out.”
Even though she won’t be part of the team next year, Watson is confident the girls will do well.
“I think they will win next year too,” she said. “It’s a great tradition to start.”
“I am absolutely thrilled to bring this back to this community,” Douthitt said. “It’s something we have worked so hard for.”
Like Watson, she said last year’s showing motivated this year’s team.
“We went last year for the first time and got second which was absolutely amazing,” Douthitt said. “We knew what we needed to do this year.”
Junior Ashley Morgan is also a captain. Other juniors are Derks, Mary Beegle and Victoria Palmer.
Sophomores are Setzer, Mandy Revis, Brittany French and Chelsea Parham.
Freshmen include Cayla Preston, Brooke Cole, Savannah Phillips, Janelle Midgett and Charlotte Dunlap.
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