Cheerleaders Win 2nd at Nationals

The WHS White Cheer team who won second in the large advanced category in Dallas, Texas.

During the National Cheerleaders Association National Championships in Dallas, Texas, Waukee High School’s White and Purple team received second in the Large Advanced Varsity Division and third place in the Intermediate Division, respectively. This is the third year in a row that Waukee High School (WHS) has earned this award at Nationals.

The teams are headed by coach Ashley Jackson and assistant coaches Miranda Connor and Allison Lovan.

“Both teams had outstanding showing at nationals, placing top three in the nation even competing against schools more than twice our size,” said Jackson.

Both teams competed against schools from all across the nation that were more than twice the size of Waukee High School’s enrollment.

This is the first year there has been two cheer competition teams. “More than two-thirds of the athletes would have been turned away. We saw that as an opportunity to form two competition teams and use that talent to continue to build our program while also allowing more athletes to participate,” said Jackson. Additionally, Waukee High School was the only school from Iowa that took two cheer teams to Nationals.

During the WHS basketball game on January 30, the team wrapped up their season by presenting their national runner-up, national 3rd place and national runner-up trophies to Waukee High School principal Cary Justmann.

“As a coach, I couldn’t be more proud of the athletes and their representation of our school on a national level,” said Jackson.

The Waukee High School Purple team who won third place in their category at Nationals in Dallas, Texas.

Waukee White Team                  Waukee Purple Team

Mati Bodwell                                    Jo Amick

Elle Bussanmas                                 Lexi Berridy

Katie Carlson                                Taylor Castanenda

Olivia Compiano                           Savannah Doody

Ali Flaharty                                   Katelin Hunt

Peyton Hiscocks                                Macy Kennedy

Brenna Hunt                                 Aubrey Mahoney

Lainie Jackson                              Anna McClellan

Emily Klement                                  Aniah Patrick

Kaitlyn Koester                                    Adriana Reyes

Paige Leibfried                                 Sofia Thompson

Ashley Lupkes                              Alison Toler

Erica McClure                               Kaitlyn Tope

Makenna Michael                             Kylee Vaudt

Teagan Sindlinger                             Jordyn Wagner

Frankie Smith

Sarah Ummach

Abby Vogel

Elena Weise

Becka Williams

Jillian Wood

Meredith Wood