By Brian Grauberger
The Dodge County High School and middle school cheer teams competed at regions this past week.
The middle school team competed on Thursday at East Laurens High School.
The team took a hard fought third place with a routine they had never before used in competition. In order to be competitive at region, the routine was changed earlier in the week to increase the difficulty level and score higher points.
The team did take home some bragging rights with seventh grader Callie Martin placing first in the jump competition.
Team members include: eighth graders Makayla Atchley, Ashlyn Grauberger, Kate Jones, Graci, Mann, Lana Kay Pritchett, Megan Rushing and Camryn Vaughn; seventh graders Sara Beth Cadwell, Janay Davis, Georgia Hardy, Cali Martin, Hope Miller, Taylor Rogers, Harmony Smith and Dezzi Thomas; sixth graders Brooke Dennis, Jamyrial Hamilton, Lacey Howell, Mattie Moore, Juliana Pruitt, Skie Rainer and Amorie Wilcox. Lametra Davis and Kelli Rice coach the team.
The high school team competed on Saturday, November 3 at West Laurens High School taking home the honor of region champs for the third year in a row. Despite having numerous injuries that limited the team’s scores in tumbling, they had a flawless routine edging out East Laurens High School who took second place.
They will compete again at the state tournament in Columbus where they placed sixth in 2016 and seventh in 2017.
Senior Jada Rollins stated “I’m very proud of our team this season. We’ve worked hard and have done our best. We’ve had some injuries that have set us back throughout the season but fought through them getting better at each competition. We look forward to Saturday to see how our teams efforts will pay off.”
Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Cheerleading State Championships will be held at the Columbus Civic Center on Friday, November 9 and Saturday, November 10.
With Dodge’s first place finish, the team forgoes Friday’s competition and will compete on Saturday beginning at 9:00 a.m. Come out and support this talented group of athletes.
Team members include: seniors Logan Lanier, Jada Rollins, Destiny Davis, Molli Mann, Bailey Wilson, Juniors: Shelby Cannon, Marlyn Parker, Kenzie Thomas and Ashlyn Dominy; sophomores Amy Elizalde, Ryleigh Gonzales, Caroline Scarborough, Morgan Black and Madison Durden; freshmen Morgan Parker, Dayla Faulk, Ashlee Knowles, Kaylee Knowles and Akasha Johnson Brianna Studstill. Sheena Orange and Tammy Lewis coach the team.
(Photos courtesy of Christine Grauberger.)