The Mount Pleasant High School Cheerleaders traveled to Orlando, Florida to compete in the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships on February 11-13 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

Competing in the Small Varsity COED Game Day division, day one began with a total of 27 teams. At the end prelims on day 1, the team finished with a score of 81.7 to give them a tie for 5th place overall, a score good enough to advance them to the semifinals the next day.

On day 2, the thirteen semifinalists would compete for spots in the finals. MPHS finished day 2 with a score of 89.9, giving them a narrow .02 lead over Charles Henderson High School. That small lead would give the team the last remaining spot and the opportunity to compete one more time in the finals.

On the final day of competition, after a great band chant and situational routine, MPHS moved on to the cheer portion where a dropped a stunt gave them a 2-point deduction. And in fight song they earned another 2-point deduction. The team finished with a raw score of 89.3, but after the 4 point deduction, placed 8th with an 85.3.

Competing for MPHS cheer were seniors Anna Claire Wall (Captain), Karigan Fox (Captain), Sam Brown, Alex Van Rijn, Nevaeh Bardwell, Katie Ochoa, Juliana Perez, and Jordan Neal, juniors Ethan Easley, Jillian Adair, and Emily Shelton, sophomores Hannah Anderson, Allie Sloan, Caroline Currey, Abigail Gutierrez, Alexa Gamble, and Madison Cooper, and freshmen Madison Hargrove, Kate Ball, and Kit Thompson.

“We are so proud of our accomplishment and happy to have brought a trophy back to Mount Pleasant,” said MPHS Cheer Coach, Karissa Lopez. “With so many seniors on our team, we have a lot of work to do for next season, but our returners are ready to get back to Florida and fight for a medal.”