Bridgeport Middle School cheerleaders brought home a second-place trophy from the Harrison County cheerleading championships, but wowed the crowd which gathered for the Nov. 9 competition held at Robert C. Byrd. The YouTube video below features the dance/tumbling/stunting portion of the routine, choreographed by Ryan DeMary and viewed more than 40,000 times since posted on Facebook ealier this month.

 

Taking first place in the county competition was Lincoln Middle School.

 

The 2017-18 BMS cheer team includes Emilia Underwood, Jade Nguyen, Lauran Johnston, Andie McCall, Olivia Goldizen, Abigail Davis, Mackenzie Henderson, Lillian Iaquinta, Lilly Strait, Gyllian Wagner, Amelia Duarte, Lexi Wilkinson, Abbey Clifton, Presley Carlyle, Sally Hamrick, Rylee Mullins and Bella Spatafore.

 

“These girls showed true grace and sportsmanship by supporting the Lincoln Wildcats on their win, as well as all other teams competing,” said Head Coach Kim Cunningham.

 

Assistant coach is Kale Bart, who said the team has been practicing the competition routine since early-August, working six days per week, two or more hours at a time.

 

“I’ve never seen a group of girls pick up the way these girls did. They caught on very, very quickly, which I feel gave us a little advantage. The faster they learned, the faster we could perfect the routine,” Bart said.

 

Bart said she and Cunningham knew from the get-go they had a talented team.

 

“We had an unprecedented amount of talent for their age,” she said. “Their skill level was amazing.”

 

DeMary, therefore, created a routine to match the skill level.

 

“The routine was very unique,” Bart said. “Because of the girls’ skill level, they were able to do so much more than most middle school girls are capable of doing.”

 

In addition to their skill level, Bart and Cunningham were impressed by the cheerleaders’ dedication and ambition.

 

The BMS student body and community not only supported the girls at Fan Night, held at BMS Nov. 7, but also at the county competition.

 

“I feel we had the biggest cheering and student section,” Bart said. “Everyone sat together and we had so much crowd support.”

 

Though hoping for first place, the girls passed a sportsmanship test with flying colors.

 

“Though they didn’t win, they showed such great sportsmanship and supported Lincoln in their win,” Bart said.