For Grafton High’s competitive cheerleading squad, the bitter taste left from last year’s state competition is gone.
Last fall, the Clippers qualified for the Group AA state championship for the first time in school history before finishing a mere two points (279-277) behind four-time defending champion Briar Woods.
Then juniors Megan Stallings, Anna Hilton and Sydney DeWees remember the feeling of coming up just short. Though they said it was still an accomplishment for the team to reach the state meet for the first time, they had a bigger vision for their senior season.
So, the trio of senior captains guided the Clippers back to Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center. The competition proved to be even more dramatic this year, but the outcome could not have been sweeter.
At the conclusion of inaugural 4A state championship held at VCU last Saturday, Grafton and Sherando had totaled equal scores of 256.5 points. So it came down to a tiebreaker.
“Waiting was the worst,” DeWees said. “We were all just standing there shaking. Everyone was sweating and holding each other’s hands.”
And then the lead judge announced over the loudspeaker the Clippers had won via tiebreaker. Not only were they the first-ever 4A state champs — this is the first year of the Virginia High School League’s newly restructured postseason alignment — but also the first Grafton High squad to capture a state cheerleading title.
“We had talked about not being over-dramatic about it if they called our names, but there was no way,” said DeWees, who missed last year’s state competition after tearing her ACL in early October. “We were all falling over crying and screaming. It was super exciting.”
Added Stallings, “We were so nervous because anything could’ve happened. I don’t even remember how I reacted when they said we won.”
While part of the emotional eruption came from the realization they had completed their unfinished business from last year, the senior captains said it was also gratifying because they faced uncharted obstacles – such as the VHSL’s new postseason alignment, which meant new opponents at the conference, region and even state level – with a new group of girls.
And while they entered the season with confidence of competing for a state title, the trio agreed the turning point came when they won the Conference 19 championship after winning three of the four Bay Rivers District mini meets during the regular season.
“This was a whole new team, so we knew from the beginning it was going to be different, but we still felt like we had a really good chance,” DeWees said.
Third-year coach Mikaela Kline said she felt one of the best things that happened to her team was not winning regionals a week before the state meet.
“That was the motivation they needed, I think,” Kline said.
At the 4A South Region competition, the Clippers won the first round but slipped in the second to finish runner-up behind eventual champion Glen Allen.
“I hate the name runner-up,” Hilton said.
That attitude, Kline said, was the biggest difference in this year’s team from last.
“Last year, no cheer team from Grafton had ever been to states, so it was just an exciting time for us to get there,” Kline said. “This year they realized they could win, and it was more of a determination to win rather than to just get back to states, and I think that played a huge part.”
Days after hoisting their coveted state-championship trophy, the trio of captains say they’re still savoring the victory because of its storybook ending.
“We made history our last two years and achieved our ultimate goal as seniors,” DeWees said. “It was totally perfect.”
