Tioga earns 11th place finish in Fort Worth
Cheer season reached its peak in Tioga with the Lady Bulldogs Cheerleading Squad taking part in the UIL Spirit State Championships held at the Fort Worth Convention Center on Jan. 15-17, finishing 11th overall.
The Lady Bulldogs competed against 43 teams from across the state and weathered a last-minute injury to senior Lexi Boyd en route to a Top 20 finish.
“I was beyond thrilled because we had an injury the day before, so we had to rework some things, and I think that’s a testament to how hard these girls work,” Tioga head cheer coach Terri Tackett said. … We worked that morning and all through the afternoon, and thank goodness we performed when we did. That gave us more time to practice with a few of our girls moved around, and I was very, very pleased we did as well as we did with those changes.”
The teams were graded on crowd leading, band chant and fight song categories, with the Top 20 teams qualifying to compete in the finals.
The Lady Bulldogs finished the qualifying round with a combined total of 173.1, earning their spot in the finals as one of the top teams in 2A Division I.
The squads were given the opportunity to perform two cheers in the finals, and Tioga finished with a combined score of 76.97, finishing 11th out of the 44 teams.
“After football season was over, we hit it hard,” Tioga Cheer cocaptain Maya Alexander said. “We got up really early, sometimes at 7 a.m., and sometimes we did not want to practice, but it paid off in the end. Everyone learned each other’s parts, and we just kept working, and I’m so proud of us.”
The Bulldog faithful also made the trip to Fort Worth, and cocaptain Graci Whisenant said seeing the strong support from their family and friends made the day even more special.
“When you run out on stage, you’re spirited and really pepped up, but just seeing that many people out there for us was comforting,” she said. “Typically, when people go to football games, they go to watch the football team and not for the cheerleaders, so to see that support come to us really means a lot because we put in endless hours of practice and work towards UIL.”
Co-captain McKenley Clay shared how much the moment meant to the Lady Bulldogs’ seniors.
“I’m really proud of how we did this year,” she said. “This was our last big event, and everyone tried their hardest. We’re all good friends, so this being our last time competing together is a little bittersweet, but I couldn’t ask for a better way to end this season.”
Tackett also thanked former Lady Bulldog cheerleaders Ainsley Denham and Debbie Willmon, and cheer coach and choreographer Chris Henson of Express Cheer for helping the team prepare for the competition.
