Cheerleading squads from Fayette County Public Schools captured first and second national honors this past weekend at the Universal Cheering Association National High School Cheerleading Championship in Orlando, Florida.

The Lady Bulldogs from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School continued their winning streak – capturing a fourth straight national title in the large varsity competition. It’s the school’s fifth national cheerleading championship.

And catapulting themselves back onto the national scene were the lady Blue Devils from Henry Clay High, who took second place in the large varsity competition.  In their heyday during the eighties and nineties, squads from Henry Clay posted seven national titles and one international title.

 

“Henry Clay is back,” said Henry Clay Coach Donna Robinson Wilson. “When we walk off the mat next year, people are going to ask, ‘Who’s second?’”

 

Hundreds of teams across the country competed for a chance to qualify for the national contest.  Roughly 50 squads performed in preliminary heats to earn a spot in either the semi-finals or the finals. Both Dunbar and Henry Clay teams performed well enough to go straight to the finals.

 

Television viewers around the nation became Dunbar fans last spring when the squad was featured on Lifetime Television’s “Cheerleader Nation,” an eight-part series that followed the cheerleading team from tryouts to nationals.

 

“There was a lot of pressure this year. There was a large crowd and a lot of people recognized us from the TV show,” said Dunbar Coach Donna Martin. “It was a great moment for these kids. It’s hard to hit something like that under pressure – especially four years in a row.”

 

The Dunbar team will arrive home Tuesday at 4:45 p.m. on Miami Air Flight Number 649 at the Bluegrass Airport.  There are 23 girls on the squad, but 20 competed for the national title.

 

Henry Clay’s team will arrive home today at 5:34 p.m. on Delta Airlines Flight Number 5333 at the Bluegrass Airport. Henry Clay’s team has 26 girls, although only 20 were on the mat for the competition.

 

“I am so pumped I can’t tell you. I’m in another world I’m so excited,” said Wilson, Henry Clay’s Coach. “This is the best group, the classiest ladies I’ve ever worked with. I can’t tell you what a joy it is to have these girls in my program.”

 

 

The championships will be televised on ESPN this spring, but a date has not been released.