Kennedale Wildcats Cheer team 15th at the NCA Nationals

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Just a week after the Kennedale High School Wildcats Cheerleading team finished with top five honors at the first UIL Cheerleading State Competition, the team was back at it again. This time it was in the National Cheerleading Association Nationals competition in Dallas, Texas. {{more}}
 
Kennedale finished with an overall score of 92.17 in the Performance competition. The top five finishers in the small school division where #1 Yukon High School- Yukon, OK (96.14); #2 Tioga High School- Ball, LA (96.08); #3 Corsicana High School- Corsicana, TX (95.36); #4 Clear Creek High School- League City, TX (94.75); #5 Clear Brook High School- Friendswood, TX (94.20).
KHS Game Time Team at the NCA

Nationals

In the Game Time competition and competing in the large school division, Kennedale finished 22nd in the Fight Song, 17th in Cheer and 24th in Dance.
 
The two competitions emphasis different skills and the time preparation is intense.
 
Before they left for the Nationals this past weekend, Coach Barbara Johnson shared the following with the Kennedale News
 

 
normally start preparing in June …
 
Talking about the decision to enter the Nationals so soon after the UIL State Competition, Coach J said, ?Our main focus this year was UIL. Most of our upper classmen are extremely involved on campus and work many hours. We had a serious talk along the way and just felt like we had to keep our focus on UIL and thought we had to do Performance 100% or not at all. Johnson when on, ?Twenty-four hours after that decision, the underclassmen asked if they could go ahead and do it. They had the extra hours to commit and wanted the experience. We normally start preparing in June for this and really only had a month to prepare.?

Competition Photo
small in number but huge in dedication …
 
?This [Nationals Performance] type of routine uses long tumbling, standing tumbling, difficult group stunts and pyramids with a very intense dance section. We will compete against teams who will have twelve cheerleaders on the mat. This is a super large challenge?, said Johnson. ?A large portion of this routine is a pyramid section. A pyramid requires two structures that can connect. That takes eight people. We have been super creative and found a way to make it work with seven with two of our athletes moving back and forth from one group to another. These girls are young and small in number but HUGE in dedication. The older girls have been great leaders and role models along the way and they have left this legacy for the younger ones to take on.
 
call them the Lucky Seven …
 
?We call them the Lucky Seven and end every practice with this: Win Together Today, Walk Together Forever,? said Johnson. Competing on this team were Madyson Hamblin 10th; Jordyn Harrison 9th; Emily Marr 10th (Perf. Team Captain); Kolbi Sipho 9th; Tiara Taylor 10th; Karley Vester 9th; and, Jordan Willingham 9th.

Competition photo
Talking about the Game Time competition, Coach J said, ?This is cheer in its traditional sense. They will be very similar to our UIL routines, however we?ve added our full JV squad to the mat and will compete with 25 athletes. We will be taking on teams from across the country as far away as Hawaii. Madeline and Julia have been amazing leaders for this group and we?re very excited to get an opportunity to compete another time this year.?
 
couldn’t ask for a better squad to work with …
 
Competing on this squad were Nia Brown, Marlina DeLeon, Madyson Hamblin, Julia Lowry (Co-Captain), Emily Marr, Katie Miller, Baylee Moss, Madeline Orona (Co-Captain), Paloma Rivera, Kolbi Sipho, Haley Sloat, Tiara Taylor, Avery Tosh, Karley Vester, Chayton Yardley, Emily Zepeda, Bianca Braz, Gwynith Camp, Mileyshka Colon, Jordyn Harrison, Camryn Johnson, Rachel Prebe, Hailey Vinson, Jordan Willingham and Sarah Wyckoff.
 
Overall, Coach J said, ?I couldn?t have asked for a better squad to work with in my tenth year of coaching!?

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