‘Grow the Legacy’: RCE’s Fearless 6 wins national cheer competition

BILOXI, Miss. — Four teams from a local cheerleading organization competed in a national competition earlier this month, with one of those squads bringing home a national title.

Champions in Motion Richmond County Elite sent 60 cheerleaders to the NYA Association’s 2024 Nationals at the Mississippi Coast Convention Center.

The program’s four teams competed over a three-day period in four separate divisions, ending with the Fearless 6 team winning the Level 6 national championship.

Members of the Fearless 6 team were — Jasmine Covington, Shelby Diggs, Aimee-Lynne Dobson, Chloe Douglas, Imani Ellerbe, Alaini Faircloth, Cynthia Garcia, Zoey Herberg, SyRinity Lockhart, Layla Nichols, Madison Smith, Sha’niyah Smith, Tristen Stanback, Cameron Veach and Kenly Wilkes.

Led by brother-and-sister head-coaching duo Colby Patrick and Cassie Tyler, the other three teams each placed in the top five of their respective divisions. Also helping coach were Autumn Hoffman and Shalima Lindsay.

Fame 4 took third place in Level 4, Fab 5 placed fourth in Level 5.4 and Fantasy 7 earned fifth-best in Level 7.

“We were very excited for each team,” Patrick said. “Every team did very well performing and really put on a great show. Nationals can be very intimidating, so just getting these kids to that point and the hard work they displayed on the stage was so exciting.

“Fearless 6 had a very rough year,” he continued. “They really struggled with this routine and it took a lot of work for them to believe they could hit. They powered through at nationals and came out on top. There was not a dry eye in the building after they announced us first place!”

Each of Richmond County Elite’s four teams cheered against teams from all over the country. Placed in divisions by team size, all four squads competed against four to five other rosters in each division, Patrick said.

The program’s national teams have a wide range of ages, with each team made up of cheerleaders based on their skills for each level. Richmond County Elite’s youngest competitor in Mississippi was seven, the oldest was 18.

The Fearless 6 and Fantasy 7 teams competed over two days, July 20 and 21, with the Fame 4 opening the competition July 19 and the Fab 5 cheering July 21.

“We truly believe these kids push to make their coaches and family proud,” Patrick said. “They know when it’s time to be serious and work. This was our 11th year at nationals. We started out not placing at nationals back in 2013.

“The mindset for our program changed and became stronger,” he closed. “Since then, RCE holds three national titles and several top-three placements in the nation.

“Every year we get better and perfect new skills that the cheer world is asking for. These kids continue to grow the legacy at RCE and we could not be more proud of them. We are excited to start our new season in September!”

In 2019, the group brought home six first-place wins from the state competition in Fayetteville and followed that with four state championships in 2022. RCE has two other national wins from 2015 and 2019.

Champions in Motion Richmond County Elite, which was started by Patrick and Tyler in 2011, practices at Falling Creek gym in Rockingham Sundays and Mondays. For more information, contact Tyler at cassie@championsinmotion.com.