West Louisville Elementary School, Owensboro Middle School, College View Middle School, Burns Middle School, Daviess County Middle School, and Daviess County High School all placed first in their respective regional cheer championships. DCHS dance placed second in two competitions and will move on to state as well. The state competitions will be held in December.
West Louisville Elementary School
WLES are the first elementary school in DCPS to have a competitive cheer team, and they started the program off with a bang as they placed first overall in the Elementary Large Game Day at Regionals. Co-head coach Erinn Williams said that achieving this was amazing given how they were only the first elementary school in DCPS to compete.
“It’s an amazing accomplishment given WLES is the first elementary school to ever compete in DCPS history,” she said. “We are excited to grow the program and continue pursuing excellence in the years to come. These student athletes have truly given it their all and it’s pretty remarkable.”
College View Middle School
College View placed first in the Small Game Day Division after placing second last year and will move on to the state competition. Head Coach Mandy Higgs said this was the best the program has ever done in the competition and is proud of her team having worked incredibly hard to get to where they are, she said.
“We added some of our difficulty back for regionals this past Sunday and my girls performed great,” she said. “The best they have done yet. I couldn’t have been prouder! I have a team of 14 girls with only four returning from the team from last year. Two of those four are my daughters. Six of these girls have done or is still currently competing in all-star competitive cheer. Four of them are currently Cheer Zone All Stars. The other 10 are new to cheer or new to school cheer. They have all worked incredibly hard over the last several months to get to the point of where they are. These girls are not just my team, they are all my kids and I love each one of them. I spend more time with them than I do anyone.”
Daviess County Middle School
Daviess County Middle School placed first in the 2 ½ Minute Medium Varsity Division. Co-head coach Katie Lowe said that the team worked really hard to move on to state and that they more than deserve their spot in the competitions in December.
“It’s pretty exciting when all local teams from the same hometown advance to state,” she said. “That being said, leading DCMS cheer to state is a huge accomplishment for coach Caitlen Hayden and myself. We’ve both grown up in Owensboro where we both cheered for Burns Middle and Apollo High School. The DCMS cheerleaders have and continue to work really hard to make it to state and as coaches it’s an understatement to say it’s well deserved!”
Burns Middle School
Burns Middle School placed first in the Large Game Day Division at regionals and achieved their highest ever score in the competition with a score of 98.5. This marks their impressive sixth consecutive regional title in a row for the program, and thus their sixth consecutive time moving on to the state competition. Head coach Robin Ebelhar said this year’s team and those that have come before always work hard, and their results at regionals pay off that effort.
“I am so proud of the BMS cheer program,” she said. “It has been my passion for the past 20 years. Our success over the years is the direct result of hard work and dedication. All my teams have had a strong work ethic and desire for excellence. We train hard and it pays off every time we compete.”
Owensboro Middle School
Owensboro Middle School’s cheer team finished first overall in the KAPOS Region 3 Large Division and will move on to the state competition in December. The OHS cheer team competed in the KHSAA region 2 competition and also qualified for the state competition. They also had their co-ed team finish fourth to qualify for state. The all-girl non-tumbling team placed second overall and qualified for the state competition as well.
Co-head coach Heather Cavitt, who coaches both the high school and middle school teams, said the weekend was filled with success and it all started when the team cheered during OHS football’s win over South Warren. They will continue to support the football team while they prepare for the December competitions, she said.
“This weekend we will all travel to Louisville Atherton for football on Friday,” she said. “Then on Saturday morning we will travel to the Tennessee Extreme UCA Regional to hopefully qualify for nationals! Very busy 2 weeks for us with football and cheer but we love it! The other coaches and I cheered for Owensboro, both middle school and high school, so we are invested in the program and OPS.”
Apollo High School
Apollo High School placed third overall in the Co-ed division and achieved their highest score ever in a traditional division with a score of 84.2. In the Large Game Day Division, the team failed to qualify for state by just 2.5 points. Head coach Wes Nall said he was pleased with the performances and that the teams have proven themselves in this competition.
“Overall, extremely pleased with our performance”, he said. “Our all-girl team competed in the Game Day Division. They’re made up of about 60% freshmen and sophomores. While they missed advancing to state by about 2.5 points, they proved themselves in a very competitive division. I’m looking forward to watching those young ladies grow and advance within the program. Our coed team put in the hardest traditional routine we’ve ever put on the mat. They were rewarded with the highest score we’ve ever received in a traditional division. We have one male on our team and were facing the challenge of taking on teams with up to 8-10 males. In coed that’s a huge difference.”
Daviess County High School
DCHS cheer won their fourth Regional Championship in a row after placing first in the Large Varsity Game Day Division. They also placed third overall in the Small Varsity Traditional 2.5. They will continue on to state where co-head coach and NFHS Kentucky Coach of the Year Kitty Jones hopes to bring home another state title.
“Our focus going into state for traditional division will be to build endurance to execute and clean up skills,” she said. “The focus for game day division will be to find creative ways to bring more uniqueness to our routine while keeping it sharp. We are going into state in this division with the highest score across the state with a 99.1, but we know we are up against some great programs! We will have to stay focused and work hard with the ultimate goal to bring back another state title.”
The DCHS dance team also had success in their regional competitions. They placed second overall in both the Hip Hop and Game Day divisions. They will advance to state for both competitions, and co-head coach Jaclyn Simpson said the team will use feedback from the judges to prepare.
“I think the team did great for their first competition of the year,” she said. “We learned our choreography only a month ago whenever most teams would have theirs done in early fall! We are definitely going to take in the judges’ feedback and make some changes, and then hopefully come back stronger at state in both routines!”
