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No matches found.'Just hit it': Cheerleading squads go for the gold
The 2012 National High School Cheerleading Championship will be held at Walt Disney World on Saturday and Sunday. It will be televised on ESPN and ESPN2 beginning at 8 a.m. CST.
FORT WALTON BEACH — Two cheerleading squads are heading to a national competition this weekend after capturing the top spots in their respective divisions at the state level.
Choctawhatchee High School’s team took first in the Class 1A division’s small co-ed squads and Fort Walton Beach High nabbed first in the Class 2A division for small co-ed teams in the Florida High School Athletic Association Competitive Cheerleading Competition last weekend in Kissimmee.
It was the second win in a row for Fort Walton Beach and a leap up for Choctaw, which came in second in last year’s competition.
“It was extremely exciting,” said Choctaw’s new coach, Hailey Buchanan. “Last year was very rough on them … I did push them a lot harder than they have been in the last couple of years, and they finally saw their hard work pay off.”
Natalie Schmidt, FWB’s cheerleading coach, said their win also came after a lot of hours of practice and determination.
“They all wanted it so, so bad and tried so hard,” Schmidt said of the state championship win.
Members of both squads practiced Monday through Friday in addition to cheering at games and attending other competitions to prepare. Fort Walton Beach’s cheerleaders learned their routine back in August and have been perfecting it ever since, Schmidt said.
Hailey Turner, Choctaw’s varsity captain, said they went up against the 13 other teams in their division with one goal.
“We didn’t want to leave with anything less than a gold medal,” the senior said. “We were in it to win it.”
FWB’s captain and senior Heather Rone walked in with a similar attitude, but with more pressure because of the team’s win last year.
“I tried to stay calm the whole time we were there,” said Heather, who admitted that the nerves struck when the squad took the floor.
As for the upcoming national competition, both captains said they hoped their teams would place, but that solid performances would be enough.
“I want to end it all on a good note and just hit it,” Heather said.
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