PLAS cheerleaders impress at camp in Montgomery
Published 7:29 pm Thursday, July 12, 2018
The Pike Liberal Arts cheerleading squad was busy competing at the annual AISA/UCA Cheer Camp at Huntingdon College in Montgomery.
The camp stretched four days and on Thursday both the varsity and junior varsity squads racked up the awards.
The varsity squad took home the AISA West Side camp championship for their performance in Montgomery. They also took home first place in band dance, sideline, cheer, rally routine and in the Space Jam Rally coaches dress-up parade contest.
They took home the Gold Superior Ribbon in the Rally Routine and in Cheer.
Individually, Emmy Stevens was named an AISA All-Star. She was also named a UCA All-American along with Porter Lankford, Ansley Adams, Izzy Saunders, Raegan Brown and Addi Garrot. Ansley Adams won the Pin It Forward Award.
“It’s almost one of those things where I am having a hard time finding words,” said varsity coach Hannah Hixon. “We started this year with only seven girls. That is a huge change from last year. There was a lot of fear about what was going to happen. We are so used to having so many. We are very limited.”
Coach Hixon didn’t quite know what to expect of her squad until they held a demo day on Sunday just prior to heading to Birmingham.
“We had so many compliments so we were extremely confident going in,” Hixon said. “We had a really good turnout and we started gaining confidence. It really paid off.”
The junior varsity squad also had a strong performance in Montgomery. The JV Patriots took home first place in cheer, sideline, rally routine and band dance. They also took home the Gold Ribbon for Cheer and Rally Routine.
Dee Allen, Abbi Kay Terry, Ella Cate Gunter, Jaylee Price and Grace Fry were named UCA All-Americans. Fry took home the jump-off winner as well as the Pin It Forward Award along with Tate Gardner.
The entire program was awarded the Leadership Award, which is voted on by other squads. It is given to the squad they would like to be on.
“It is the one thing we go after every year,” Hixon said. “It says a lot. There was a squad there with 17 people. The best thing I can say about the girls is they are the most positive people I have ever met.”
The junior varsity squad is coached by Katie Scott.