Competing in the gameday division on Saturday, Nov. 6, the Lady Panthers cheer team earned its second straight Regional Championship by defeating 11 other teams.
Daviess County cheer came out and performed their gameday routine which consisted of a band dance, then a sideline into a cheer and fight song, earning a score of 94.90 to finish atop the competition.
Despite .5 deduction for a bobble on a stunt, the Lady Panthers were able to beat its close competitor by a whole point, as Apollo finished as runner-up with a score of 93.10. Owensboro also nearly cracked the top-five with a score of 86.90.
Head Coach Kitty Jones was pleased with their performance overall, but knows that with more time to prepare for state they will be able to continue to improve following the regional competition.
“I thought we came out with a lot of energy and did really well,” Jones said. “We did have a few mistakes. So in comparison to last year, last year we had a really long season so we had a long time to prepare. This year it was back to normal. Our competition was back at its normal time in November, so there wasn’t a lot of time to prepare.”
Jones has coached at Daviess County for four years and her first group has bought into the program’s mindset that the coaches have laid out. Jones said that combining that with the execution and creativity of their dance, which was mainly choreographed by assistant coach Sally Ward, has elevated them to success over the last two seasons.
“It’s definitely a combination of several things…” Jones said. “It’s a combination of buy-in to what the coaches want to do with the program and also a combination of the creativity of the routine itself which was created by assistant coach Sally Ward. And also, getting an assistant coach in the school building that started last year. I think it’s a combination of the buy-in with the kids, the work ethic and the creativity of the coaching team, but especially Sally Ward.”
Now the Lady Panthers are making it a quick turnaround, as they are set to compete with some of the commonwealth’s best.
“The goal is obviously to be a top contender at state and then we go this weekend to Lexington to the UCA Bluegrass Regionals to qualify for nationals,” Jones said.
At the regional competition they will have a gameday team competing and a small varsity group performing a two and a half minute routine, with the gameday team hoping to secure a spot and take the next step toward reaching their goal of placing top-five at nationals.
Following the UCA Bluegrass Regionals, Daviess County will be looking to improve upon last year’s runner-up finish in the state tournament.
Jones said that they sit the second-place trophy in front of them for practice sometimes as motivation to claim that No. 1 spot this year and said that if they can lock in mentally and continue to work hard over the next month they can do it.
“I think it’s drive and work ethic,” Jones said. “The kids you know, they want to finish in the top. Last year at that time we were really clean and we looked really good, so I think that we’re going to have to really focus on cleaning the routine and bringing a lot of energy.”
The Lady Panthers will get their chance to grab a State Championship on Dec. 10th at George Rogers Clark High School.
