Local teams shine as UIL Spirit State Championships take over downtown Fort Worth

Several area teams had plenty to cheer about on Saturday, taking home medals at the University Interscholastic League’s Spirit State Championships that were held January 17-19 at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Southlake Carroll led the way with a second place finish in Class 6A Division II with Trophy Club Nelson taking third. Birdville finished second in Class 5A Division II with Colleyville Heritage taking third.

Fort Worth Arlington Heights won the Fight Song category in the preliminaries to also take home some hardware.

The event uses a ‘game day’ format as opposed to the choreographed, gymnastics event. It highlights what cheerleaders have been doing all year long with Band Chant, Fight Song, and Crowd Leading categories that are done individually in the preliminaries and combined together for the 20 teams that make the finals in each class.

“I didn’t let them know what place they were in after the preliminaries,” said Carroll coach and choreographer Cassie Sheriff, whose team was in fifth before the finals. “I told them just to keep fighting hard, because if they wanted it that it was in their hands and they needed to grab it.”

With limited practice space in the convention center, Sheriff took her team outside in the cold to help prepare them for the final. Preliminary scores are wiped out heading into the final round.

“I told them that they had to push through it,” Sheriff said of her team practicing outside with the temperature in the upper 30’s. “There’s only one thing that will get us through and that’s having faith in yourself, faith in your team, and being confident. And you can’t be confident in your team if you’re not confident in yourself first.”

Carroll finished in third place last season. This is the fourth year the Spirit Championships have been held.

Keller Central finished in fourth place in 6A DII, just two tenths behind Nelson. McAllen Memorial took home the gold.

Birdville and Colleyville Heritage both had strong performances in the finals after finishing sixth and ninth respectively in the preliminaries. Cedar Park took home the gold in 5A DI.

On Thursday, Azle picked up a gold medal for a second time in the Coed Division after runner-up finishes the past two years. The Hornets also won the Crowd Leading category in the preliminaries.

After just missing medals the past two seasons, Keller Fossil Ridge took third place in the Coed division just behind Lewisville.

San Antonio Johnson dominated Class 6A once again winning the Division I title. Johnson has won the largest division all four years the competition has been held. The Jaguars also won all three of the preliminary categories.

Conroe Oak Ridge was second in 6A DI with Katy Seven Lakes taking third. Euless Trinity was 14th after the preliminaries and Arlington Lamar was 19th, but neither finished in the top 10.

San Antonio Alamo Heights won 5A Division II handily over Mission Sharyland Pioneer and Castroville Medina Valley who finished second and third. No Tarrant County area teams finished in the top 20.

Crandall edged out Argyle for third place in Class 4A behind Canyon Lake and Lumberton. Argyle did finish first in the Crowd Leading category.

Lago Vista, Commerce, and Mount Vernon were first through third in Class 3A. Brock finished in eighth place after barely squeaking into the finals. The Eagles were 20th after the preliminaries.

Class 2A went to Jewett Leon followed by Junction and Brackettville Bracket. Paducah, Knox City, and Benjamin placed in Class A.

The competition has grown each year with 486 teams and 10,400 kids participating this season.

“It keeps growing, new teams are coming in each year,” said Dr. Susan Elza, Director of Athletics for the UIL. “Just the excitement that’s been generated by this activity for us is exciting. The energy here is unbelievable.”

Elza lauded Varsity Spirit who runs almost every aspect of the event.

“They’re the experts,” Elza added. “They bring in the judges and all the safety workers making sure participants aren’t dropped doing lifts. The do all the score collection and cross checking...they’re outstanding.”