Cheer captures State Runner-Up at Class 4A meet

Heritage Hall's varsity cheer team won the Class 4A Runner-Up trophy at the recent OSSAA State Meet. One week earlier, they competed at Regionals in Chickasha and placed third. The week between meets was filled with dedication, diligence, and perseverance and the hard work paid off! The varsity cheer team has been very successful in the past few years, as they were also State Runner-Up in 2021.

Addy Washington is one of the team's sophomores and talented back spots.

"We have very talented athletes on our team. Despite our numbers being smaller than most other teams, we still place well because of our strong team skills and loud voices."

Washington has done competitive cheer for three years providing expertise and advice to her teammates. She is a strong tumbler and brings so much positivity to the team. Addy loves listening to music on bus rides to football games and becoming closer to her teammates.

Another teammate, Elise Douglas, thinks Heritage Hall's cheer team is so successful because of the team culture.

"We are successful because of our coaching and partly because of the respect the girls on the team have for each other. We all communicate well and have a common goal that motivates us. We know we must keep a legacy going, so we work hard all year, even when it isn't cheer season. We also have fun and make it enjoyable, which I think is really important to be successful."

Douglas is a junior and has cheered for five years at Heritage Hall and has cheered for three years of all-star. Elise is a flyer and has many tumbling passes in their routines. Elise loves to go on car rides with the team and go to Sonic before cheering at football games.

Aiden Walker, the team's captain, reflects on the Charger Cheer experience.

"Being the captain of the varsity cheer team is an honor and comes with great responsibility! The bonds the team has with each individual on this team has been the key to our success! We are competing for the team and not for ourselves! Earning second place feels like a win for the whole team and was an amazing way to finish my last state competition!"

Walker has been cheering for three years, bringing her teammates much encouragement and leadership. She helps motivate the team daily to push themselves to be the best they can be.

Head coach Heather Showalter '95 is proud of her squad's achievement.

"I felt like the team really came together between regionals and state, and the coaches were so proud of them coming together and all working as one, instead of as individuals to achieve a common goal of hitting a perfect routine. Everyone was willing to do what it took to put their personal best routine on the mat, which created the best team routine we could've done. The upperclassmen's leadership played a huge role between regionals and state and helped to build the team's confidence. We will continue to build off of our success at the state competition as we move forward into preparing for game day competition and nationals."

Showalter has coached the Heritage Hall cheer team for 14 years and has had many state titles. She was on the Heritage Hall cheer team in high school and cheered at OU while in college. Showalter helped critique and clean up this year's routines, which was a big part of pushing the team to achieve so much this season.

The success of the Heritage Hall cheer team is because of their team dynamic, leadership, skills, coaching, and determination. They have shown their hard work at state, and should have an extraordinary performance at the Game Day State Meet in November. They'll try to build even more momentum before they travel to Dallas in January for NCA Nationals.

Onward, Chargers!

Written by Lauren Wilson '25
Photos by Candid Color

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