El Dorado finishes third at UCA Championships
El Dorado cheer coach Tab Bledsoe and her squad had the entire weekend to enjoy the sights and sounds at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla.
The Competition Cheer Cats saved the fun for after the competition Sunday evening.
El Dorado stuck to business and it paid off with a third place finish in the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships.
Competing in the 34-team Super Varsity Division I NonTumbling Game Day Division, the Cheer Cats scored 96 to finish behind Alamo Heights (Texas), which won the championship with 97.9 followed by Tomball Memorial (Texas) with 96.3. Daviess County, Colorado (95.9) and Fort Smith Southside (95.4) rounded out the top five.
“This team is truly the dream team,” Bledsoe said. “They hit zero in every competition all year (no deductions).
“When we got our scores for day one instead of running to the Disney parks the girls asked ‘Can we practice? We need to fix some things and prepare for tomorrow.' I had full intentions of reviewing score sheets and pulling them together for a morning practice but they insisted we do both.
“So we did. We raised our score for Day 2 and again reviewed scores, practiced and prepared for Day 3. We finally got to relax and have fun after the awards on Day 3.”
El Dorado scored 95.40 to place second in the preliminary round behind Southside (98.20).
The Cheer Cats had the highest score in the semifinals with 95.80, edging Tomball Memorial (95.60).
El Dorado, which won the 5A state championship in December, finished eighth in the Nationals last year.
“They set a goal after state when we started prepping for Nationals that they wanted to do better than last year's ranking and really wanted to be in the top 3,” said Bledsoe. “I'm so happy for them that they reached this goal.”
Cherry Creek (Colorado), Helena (Tennessee), Cherokee Trail (Colorado), Grissom (Alabama) and Mansfield rounded out the top 10.
Bledsoe said the squad has 10 seniors, who had the most successful year, possibly, ever at El Dorado.
“One (senior) didn't travel since she had basketball games but was still an essential part of the team,” Bledsoe said. “These seniors are such a special group. Their drive and leadership will be hard to match in the future. This group will always hold a large piece of my heart.”