By winning the West Virginia Class AA Region II championship, Bridgeport High School became one of the top eight Class AA teams in the state.

 

Saturday, the Tribe will complete its quest to be the best.

 

The WVSSAC state cheer competition at Marshall University will tell the story.

 

In Class AA, Bridgeport competes first, followed by Winfield, East Fairmont, Logan, Fairmont Senior, Lincoln, Oak Hill and Man.

 

At the Region II competition, held Nov. 9 at Martinsburg’s Spring Mills High School, Lincoln placed second, earning a spot at state competition.

 

“Lincoln is phenomenal and has really good showmanship. They truly put on a show and are super fun to watch and obviously very talented,” said BHS Coach Natalie Hathaway. “But year after year, we focus on what we can do, keeping our own style and trying to be the best we can be and not based off other teams.”

 

Although there has been some minor tweaking, the Lady Indians have kept the same technical cheer and dance they performed at regionals, Big 10 and the George Washington Cheer Invitational.

 

“We were happy with the way we were scored at those three competitions, but we did take into consideration what the score sheet indicated we needed to work on and added a little flair here and there,” Hathaway said. “But we try to stay true to ourselves and keep most everything pretty much the same.”

 

Class AA is well-rounded and BHS is likely to have some stiff competition Saturday, but Hathaway said her advice to her girls is always the same.

 

“Cheerleading is a subjective sport and we can’t control the results, so the only thing I ask of them is a clean performance and to obviously go out there and have fun,” she said.

 

For the past month, Hathaway said – despite challenges - the girls have been dedicated and focused in rehearsal and now are excited to showcase their hard work.

 

“It’s been a long time frame to be practicing since our last competition, so it’s very tiring and we’ve dealt with injuries, illness and pretty much everything. You name it, we’ve had it,” she said. “But they have been resilient up until this point and hopefully we can continue to do that. It has definitely not been easy for them, but we can’t ask anything more of them. No matter what is thrown at them, they bounce back.”

 

Hathaway said her team is talented across the board; the girls displaying quality jumps, stunting, tumbling and dance skills.

 

She was pleased with Wednesday’s dress rehearsal and looks forward to seeing the girls on the floor today as they practice at Cam Henderson Center on the Marshall University campus, where Saturday’s championships will be held.

 

Hathaway and her assistant coach and mother, Janet Hathaway, hope there will be plenty of hometown support present Saturday for the competition.

 

Class AAA competition starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, with Class A and AA to follow, respectively. Bridgeport will likely take the floor between 1:30 and 2 p.m.