BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — After years of coming close, Lee-Scott Academy’s cheerleading team finally reached the top.
The Lady Warriors won the Class Private AA cheerleading state championship Nov. 10 at Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, one year after finishing as state runner-up.
“We’re on top of the world right now,” Lee-Scott head cheerleading coach Brooke Adams said. “We’ve worked really hard for this.”
The championship marked a breakthrough for a program that had come close to winning the state title several times.
Adams said the team has been state runner-up “quite a few times” during her tenure, and there was some uncertainty when the Lady Warriors moved to the Alabama High School Athletic Association.
“We weren’t sure what that would hold for cheer,” Adams said. “But my girls really stepped up to the plate. They took it right in stride.”
The new classification put Lee-Scott against schools that, in some cases, have hundreds more students. Adams said the Lady Warriors didn’t let that change their approach.
“There are no trick plays in cheerleading. You have to go out there and execute your routine to the best of your ability,” Adams said. “We didn’t pay much attention to what division we were in. We really focused on ourselves, prepared the best routine possible and executed when it counted.”
For the cheerleaders who had experienced the disappointment of falling short in previous seasons, the championship represented years of preparation, determination and a shared goal.
Team member Anna Kate Horak said the victory made the years of hard work worthwhile.
“All of our hard work from the past five years paid off finally. It’s something that we will remember forever,” said Anna Kate Horak.
“From dreaming of it in seventh grade, to falling short two years in a row, to finally bringing it home my senior year — one team with one dream accomplished. State champions, and for that I’m forever grateful,” said Elle Palin Gregory.
