WC Cheer Competition Team takes odd path to UCA’s national championship meet in Orlando
When they gathered at a Graeter’s ice cream shop on Oct. 27, few members of the Worthington Christian Cheer Competition Team felt like celebrating. Less than 24 hours before, the Warriors learned that despite a third-place finish at the Universal Cheerleading Association’s regional tournament at Olentangy Berlin, the group didn’t qualify for the national tournament coming up in January.
“I was a little bummed out, but I was still happy we tried our best and had a really good routine,” senior Grace Johnson said. “When we were told we needed to meet at Graeter’s, we thought it was going to be a meeting about a competition coming up in Pittsburgh, so we could try again to get the bid for nationals.”
Assistant coach Alexa Marlow, however, had a message that was much sweeter than a scoop of double-chocolate chip ice cream.
“We’re going to walk through the details of the Pittsburgh trip, but first we want our seniors to stand up to thank you guys,” Marlow said, suppressing a smile. “We know you guys worked hard this year, and I wanted to tell you (dramatic pause) we’re going to nationals. We got a bid.”
Due to a scoring error, the Warriors had been told they hadn’t made the cut, but once the mistake was discovered, Coach Tammy Lewis received a message stating that her team was indeed heading to nationals. Lewis’ message didn’t register with Johnson until she heard her teammates exploding with joy.
“I was just so overwhelmed,” Johnson said, laughing. “I was thanking God because He gave us a second chance. When it seemed like we wouldn’t make it, we accepted that it was God’s will. He had another plan in mind for us. We were coming together as a team, jumping up and down and screaming. I’m sure those Graeter employees were pretty upset with us for scaring away their customers.”
Johnson will join classmates Anna Kate Clinton, Tori Cooke, Riley Dodds, Promyse Hendrix, and Maci Morganski, juniors Sydney Oakley and Mallory Peterson, sophomores Taryn Holloway, Lilia Jarvis, Eva Kraynak, Jayden Lewis, Aubrey Marcum, Lydia Marlow, and Izzie Tilton, and freshmen Kendall Weirich and Addison Wrobbel on the trip. The team will compete against teams from across the United States, beginning on January 30, with the elimination competition concluding on February 1 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
Over 120 teams from across the state, as well as those from Pennsylvania and Indiana, competed in four different elements in front of a panel of judges at the Berlin regional for a handful of invitations to the national meet. Lewis estimated that Worthington Christian brought an entourage of nearly 200 parents, friends, and fans to support the team at the event.
“The meet was incredibly stressful, but it was also electrifying,” Lewis said. “This was our first time we’ve ever competed there, so I assumed they took several teams to the finals. It turned out to be a hard ticket to get punched. After it was all over, the girls were devastated. They didn’t make it, but we all accepted this was God’s will.”
Lewis and assistant coaches Alexa Marlow and Dana Rodgers noticed something didn’t add up. A team that had scored higher than it received a bid, while Worthington Christian did not. Lewis reached out to the head director of the Ohio region for an explanation.
“I asked, ‘Help me figure out the parameters of this so when we go to Pittsburgh, I’ll understand it,” she said. “The director called me the next day and said, ‘Tammy, I am so sorry. There was a scoring error. There were actually five teams that should have moved on, and you guys were one of them.’
“The girls handled it so graciously. (The coaches) thought it might take away from the moment because they didn’t get to hear their names called at the regional meet. The way that God made it happen made it more special.”
The UCA championship is part of a series of competitions for the Warriors, who placed first at the Oak Hills Invitational on Oct. 12. The Warriors will also compete at the Ohio High School Athletic Association regional and state meets on Dec. 13 at Wittenberg University in Springfield and the Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators meet slated in January at Marietta College. The Warriors placed fourth in the OASSA competition last season.
Additionally, many members of the school’s cheer competition team also serve as cheerleaders for the Warriors’ football and boys’ basketball teams during the fall and winter seasons.
“The biggest misconception about cheerleading is people think we don’t work all that hard and we aren’t a sport,” Johnson said. “Our season runs from June to February, and we work really hard. When we got this national bid, people went, ‘Wait, this is something we should take seriously.’”
Lewis credits Rodgers and Marlow for helping bring the team together.
“I can’t say enough amazing things about them. Cheerleading teaches the girls skills that will take them further in life,” Lewis said. “They learned how to persevere, work hard, and lean on the Lord and trust His plan.
“It’s been really fun to see the members of the team work with the younger generations. If you attended any of the football games this year, you likely saw these little elementary school cheerleaders practicing alongside the older girls. All of the coaches’ goal is to create a program that will be sustainable for years, so other little WC cheerleaders have an opportunity to do these kinds of things.”
Johnson grew up with one older sister, Taylor, who is about a decade her senior. However, through the competitive cheer program, Johnson said she felt like her family had expanded beyond the bounds of biology.
“I said in my senior night speech, I feel like I have a ton of sisters now and we’re all united with Christ and with each other,” Johnson said. “We all understand each other because we’ve gone through the same things, and that has brought us so much closer together. It’s like having a new family.”