Garnet Valley Cheer Creates History at ESPN’s National High School Cheerleading Championship

Cara Furchner

The Jaguar Cheer Team performed phenomenally this year at ESPN’s National High School Cheerleading Championship, the NHSCC. For the first time in history, GV’s varsity team made it to finals this year in the D1 Small Varsity Division and took 14th place overall. 

The D1 Small Varsity Division is the largest of all divisions at the competition, where over 100 teams from different high schools from around the world come to compete. It consists of three rounds over the course of three days, prelims, semifinals, and finals. Each team performs the same routine for the judges every day, and all rounds are scored with the same sheet, consisting of categories such as difficulty, skill, execution, and overall performance. 

Prelims on day one cut many teams out of the competition for simple mistakes. Garnet Valley has made it past this round in the past and was excited to make it to day two again this year, bringing them one step closer to their goal of making it to the final round. 

On day two during the semifinals, the stakes are much higher. The judges cut the amount of teams in half, only allowing 30 teams to proceed to the final round. Garnet Valley has never before surpassed semifinals, until this year. They executed their routine perfectly and knew their hard work paid off when they received the news they were heading into finals for the first time in Garnet Valley history. 

On day three, the final round, teams once again perform their routine and then are ranked by the judges. With only one mistake on the final day, the Jaguars finished 14th out of the 30 teams in finals, placing them 14th overall out of the 112 teams in the D1 Small Varsity Division!  

The NHSCC saw nothing but pure skill, dedication, and teamwork from the lovely Jags cheer team this year! Congratulations to all members of the cheer team on a great season and on making Garnet Valley Cheer history!!