It was an eventful day for Apollo and Daviess County, who competed at the KHSAA cheerleading state competition on Saturday. The E-Gals finished second in the Game Day Small division (94.70), while the Lady Panthers finished second in the Game Day Large division (92.10). Also in attendance was Owensboro, who placed eighth (83.60) in the Coed division.
For Daviess County, head coach Kitty Jones was proud of how her team put everything on the mat.
“They put it all out there and it was pretty electric,” Jones said. “We would have loved to grab a state title, but I think our performance was successful. Being runner-up is a huge accomplishment in the state of Kentucky.”
The Lady Panthers also competed in the All-Girls Medium division, finishing 10th with a score of 73.80. Next up for Daviess County is the National competition which is being held in February.
“We want to sharpen up, and we are always adapting and making changes for the next move,” she said. “The goal is to sharpen up and be a contender at the national level.”
Apollo, who will also be attending Nationals, had a tumultuous road to this point. Early in the season, they were without a coach, with some believing they wouldn’t be able to compete. Head coach Ashley Thomas took over shortly before Fall Break, leaving her team only a limited amount of time to create a routine from scratch.
She said it was a testament to the girl’s blood, sweat, and tears for them to get to this point — finishing just .1 behind first place Knox Central.
“We all did very well and built off of each other’s energy. The crowd and fans also hyped us up,” senior Eli Smith said. “We went into it thinking, whatever happens, happens. We worked so hard to get to this point.”
With less than two months before Nationals, Smith wants to see his team work on keeping up their energy from beginning to end.
“For practice, we need to have our heads in the right mindset and take it seriously,” senior Lily York said. “We can be tighter also.”
Teammate Addison Weise echoed her sentiments.
“We need to work on our spirit, sharpen up our motion, and be more confident,” Weise said.
Throughout the season and especially leading up to the state competition, Apollo and Daviess County formed a comradery, which pushed the two programs to newfound heights.
“We went into state as a cohesive force,” Jones said. “We practice together and cheer for each other.”
