Prep cheer squads ready to take the floor
With the 2021 high school competition cheerleading season just getting started, it’s time to take a look at the six local squads and their prospects for the season.
We start the previews in Chickamauga where the Navyand-White are looking to join some rarefied air this season.
Gordon Lee’s current streak of five straight state titles (Class A Public) is tied for the secondlongest streak in GHSA history with Northgate (2007-08 to 2011-12) and Pierce County (2015-16 to 2019-20). It is also the second-longest longest current run in the state behind the nine in a row run that Mt. Paran Christian (Class A Private) is currently enjoying.
Kilie Wilson is the only senior on this year’s team, but the team has plenty of veteran athletes who understand what it’s like to perform in the spotlight on the big stage at the state finals.
Head coach Kelley Whitman said practice has been going well so far, despite experiencing a few bumps in the road because of COVID-related quarantines and contact tracing. She called this year’s routine “challenging”.
“We have tried to incorporate some new elements that they are working hard to hit,” she said. “But the girls are very excited about our theme this year and I can’t wait to see them execute it.”
She added that staying healthy and focused would be the keys to the team’s success.
“We have to remember that we can never waste an opportunity to get better,” she added. “They are a dedicated group of athletes and have fully bought into the idea of not stopping until they are proud.”
After a runner-up finish in Region 6-AAA in 2020 and a fifth-place finish at the Class AAA state finals, Ringgold has picked up where they left off a year ago with a win in their first competition of the year on Sept. 11.
Head coach Anna Crisp said that despite a short hiatus due to COVID quarantines, practices have been going well.
“The girls have been working hard and holding each other accountable,” Crisp said. “The seniors (Madison Brown, Audrey Gaston, Graci Shipp and Cameron Sony) are a great group of girls and they do a good job of motivating the girls and cheering each other on.”
A total of 16 athletes will take the floor this season and Crisp said that this year’s routine will be the most challenging the squad has had since she
took over as coach.
“We have the most tumbling we have had in the past three years as well,” she said. “We should be maxing out in stunts and pyramid and we’ll be successful if we stay healthy, injury-free and continue with the hard work the girls have been putting in at practice.
“Our goal is always to hit zero at every competition and we’d love to have another undefeated regular season. (Being) region champs sounds pretty good too!”
Heritage
A few miles back up the road in Boynton, Heritage is coming off a third-place finish at the Region 7-AAAA competition, which they turned into a respectable fifth-place showing at the Class AAAA finals in Macon.
The Navy-and-Red will be led by seniors Abbey Mitchell, Abby Scott, Allie Parker, Layla Brown, McKenna Bialecke and Payton Higdon. Parker, Brown and Bialecke were named as All American Cheerleaders over the summer, along with teammate Kynlie Guinn.
Parker also became the first Heritage cheerleader to ever be named as one of the top 30 candidates for the Georgia Cheerleader Coaches’ Association (GCCA) All-State Team and Cheerleader of the Year award.
Head coach Meredith Burkett said practices have been going very well and that the team is really pushing each other and improving week-toweek, adding that this year’s routine is quite difficult.
“We are maxing out in all areas, which means extremely high difficulty,” she explained. “We wanted something fun, creative and challenging and our choreographer definitely delivered.”
Burkett added that there were three keys to success for her squad this season.
“This year will be successful if we continue to push hard each week, keep a positive atmosphere, and stay in good physical shape,” she said. “Our routine is very physically demanding and the girls will need every ounce of endurance. They will need physical and mental strength to be successful.”
Ridgeland
The Panther program took another step last fall as they placed fourth in 7-AAAA and made their first-ever state finals appearance where they placed 10th.
They have already celebrated more notoriety in the
off-season as senior Kaitlyn Boller joined 2021 graduate Michelle Thomason as the only Ridgeland cheerleaders ever to make the top 30 for All-State and GCCA Cheerleader of the Year, while head coach Abby Manus Bates was named the Most Positive Girls’ Coach in the state in all sports by Positive Athlete Georgia.
Bates said that positivity has translated to her athletes, especially in the off-season.
“Practice has been tough due to COVID-19 quarantines,” she stated. “However, the Ridgeland athletes show up everyday ready to work hard and roll with any challenge that they face. There have been minor setbacks, but overall, this team is extremely impressive and continues to go above and beyond the expectations given to them. This is a really talented group. I love this group and I’m proud and fortunate
to get to coach them.”
Boller, along with Cady Crawford and Rylee Hughes, are providing senior leadership for the hard-working team.
“We’ll be successful if we continue to work hard, keep an encouraging outlook and keep our goals in focus,” Bates added.
She went on to say that an influx of underclassmen talent has allowed them to increase the difficulty in this year’s routine.
“We had a rocking freshman group that came in and (they) have really gone above and beyond the normal call of cheer athletes,” she added. “We have more tumbling than we’ve ever had and it’s been fun to watch this program grow year to year.”
LFO
For the Warriors, they are
focused on improving on last year’s fifth-place finish in Region 6-AAA and their 15th-place showing at state.
“We began the summer very strong, utilizing all available practice times, but continuing that practice schedule has been difficult due to COVID cases and quarantines,” said Coach Becky Adcox, who shares the coaching duties with Lindsay Bunker. Our girls have put their all into every practice we’ve had in order to prepare for sideline and competition.”
LFO will be anchored by a talented senior quartet of Maci Gouvitsa, LaShana Palmer, Frankie Robinette and Trula Robinette, who are hoping to move the Redand-White up in the standings at the end of the season.
This year’s routine has a theme of empowering young women.
“We chose songs that would foster the unity among our girls,” the coaches explained. “We wanted to incorporate more intrinsic stunts into our routine, while maximizing our floor space and really pushing our girls.”
They added that maximizing practice time and avoiding more quarantines would be very important to their chances of success later this season.
LaFayette
For the Orange-and-Black, veteran head coach Nicole Harris is counting on senior captain Kenna Massey and senior co-captains Janie Pickard and Tanner Rodgers to set the example for the squad.
She said that, like most teams, they have also had a challenge in dealing with quarantines, but that they
are making the most of the practice time to “pay attention to the little things in the routine.”
“This is one of my most favorite routines we’ve had in a few years,” Harris said excitedly. “I love the creativity and the theme of it. Right now, we are slowly adding in our difficulty in partner stunts and parts of the pyramid, which I think is the most difficult part of our routine.”
Massey and Pickard, along with junior Rayden Chastain, were named All-American at a UCA camp in Murfreesboro, Tenn. over the summer.
“We have to execute well to be successful,” Harris added, “We have some girls in new positions and we’re throwing harder skills in tumbling. Many of my girls are still gaining the confidence they need to execute.”