ORLANDO, Fla. — The Rhea County High School Competition Cheer Team traveled to Orlando, Fla., to compete in the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships on Feb. 9 through Feb. 12.
Teams came from all over the country to compete for the top spot at the ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World.
This is the fourth year in a row that the Rhea County White Team Cheerleaders have advanced to the national level. They competed in several regional competitions in the fall in the hopes of earning a bid to the national competition. Their regional competitions included a trip to Birmingham, Ala., where they took home first place and earned a bid to the national competition in Murfreesboro, Tenn., where they took home second place in the TSSAA State Competition and the Smoky Mountain Championship in Sevierville, Tenn., where they took home a second place trophy and received their second bid if the season.
The team competed in the Small Varsity Co-Ed D1 Division against 32 other teams. The division was broken down into two groups for the initial round of competition with 16 teams in their group and 17 in the other.
Rhea County was the seventh group to go on Friday afternoon and hit a perfect routine with zero points in deductions. However, they came up short and missed making it to semi-finals. The Eagles ended up 19th out of 333, earning their best nationals finish to date. Strawberry Crest from Dover, Fla., took home the top spot.
The RCHS White Team is made of the following members: Seniors — McKenna Cameron, Heather Frazier, Emma Fugate, Ben Garrison, Eva Hicks, Lexi Housley, Ava Massengill, Bailee Smith, Sarah Shirley and Serena Tallent; Juniors — Elijah Anderson, Freddy Diaz, Annie Evans and Olivia Parnell; Sophomores — Jaylin Cosby, Kirra Garmany and Jaxson Skiles; Freshmen — Korea Ainley, Baylenn Butler, Isabella Lajas, Avery Massengill, Lilah Sullivan and Grace Tipton; Eighth-grade alternate — Ella Hicks. The team is coached by Dallas and Lindy Hicks.
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