The Burns Middle School cheerleaders recently finished fourth in the country in their division at UCA Nationals in Orlando.
The BMS team competed in the game day division of the National High School Cheerleading Championship on Feb. 7, putting together a strong semifinal performance to earn a chance in the finals.
“We went out there and gave it our best at semifinals, and the girls crushed it advancing to finals. This routine was perfection,” said Robin Ebelhar, who co-coaches BMS with Sara Lanham. “As coaches we couldn’t be any prouder of this team. It has been an absolute blessing to be a part of these young ladies’ lives, and their hard work and perseverance really paid off.”
Lanham said a first-place finish was the ultimate goal, but the girls can still be proud of their results.
“The end result of fourth was not exactly everything we had hoped for, as we were wanting to bring home a national title to the Foxes Den, but these girls have so much to be proud of,” Lanham said.
Ebelhar and Lanham are both in their 16th year of coaching. Lanham said a strong finish and plenty of support made this the best year yet.
“We hate that our season has to end with this,” Lanham said. “Robin and I went in with this being our 16th year of coaching, and it has been the sweetest yet. We deemed this year our “Sweet 16.” Fourth place is a great accomplishment, and none of this would have been possible without the support from our school, cheer family and each other.”
