CAMERON — Not forgetting the outcome of last year’s Sandhills Athletic Conference championship competition, the Richmond Senior High School cheerleading team went into Saturday’s event with one goal in mind.
Competing with a chip on their shoulder, the Raider cheerleaders owned the floor and claimed this year’s edition of the 3A/4A SAC conference crown. All teams participated in the co-ed non-tumble division at Union Pines High School.
Remembering its second-place finish last winter to 4A rival Pinecrest, Richmond used that as motivation to secure a competition-high score of 71.4 points.
Pinecrest High School took second place, with Lee County High School rounding out the top-three scores.
Additionally, senior flyer Sophia Chavis and junior secondary base Kylie Hood were selected to the All-SAC team. It was the first career selection for both cheerleaders, who have been three-year varsity members.
It was a rollercoaster week for the team, which began when junior flyer Trinity Lockhart was flown to a hospital following a car accident. As she returned home to recover, that altered the Raider cheerleaders’ lineup and routine.
“The girls who competed last year obviously had a chip on their shoulder,” head coach Meredith Hood said. “They definitely wanted to go in and do well and win. I think we were nervous because we had so many changes that were last minute. Not having Trinity because of her accident was hard for everybody.
“We came in on Monday and figured out what we needed to do,” she continued. “We didn’t have any other flyers who had been doing what Trinity had been doing, but Riley Howell came in and did really well and stepped up. We didn’t have to change nearly as much as we first anticipated.”
Fourteen of Richmond’s 15 cheerleaders participated in the championship-winning routine. Members of this year’s team include Chavis and Hood, and juniors Howell, Nevaeh Harris, James Lewis, Mattie Moss, Addison O’Neal and Bailey Rheault.
Sophomore cheerleaders are Makayla Brown, Maddy Burnett, Laney Dawkins, Jada Scott and Emma Williams, along with lone freshman Camden Nolan.
Chavis, Harris, Hood, Moss and Scott were all varsity cheerleaders during last season’s second-place finish.
This season, the seven SAC teams were judged differently than last year and could earn a maximum score of 100 points. The scoring was segmented into three parts.
Richmond secured 22.5 points out of a total 30 points in crowd leading (8.5/10), skill incorporation (10.5/15) and category impression (3.5/5).
Some of the judges’ comments were “great use of signs and poms,” “overall good speaking and technique throughout” and “great opening and overall flow of routine.”
In the next segment, Richmond scored 17 out of 20 total points. Those categories were jumps (8.5/10), motions and dance (4.5/5) and category impression (4/5).
Comments included “nice difficulty and connections,” “good use of levels and whole floor,” “nice choreography and creative motions” and “nice use of motions when moving.”
Able to earn up to 50 points in the final segment of partner stunts and pyramids, Richmond scored 31.9 points. The Raider cheerleaders scored 19.2 points in partner stunts and added 12.7 points with the pyramid.
“James helped out by filling in Makayla’s spot when she couldn’t stunt,” Hood said. “It was a total team effort and we figured it out.
“Our cheer was better this year,” she closed. “The team was way more spirited and more excited and that showed. Our stunts were really good as well, especially with all the changes that had to be made. It was great to redeem ourselves.”
Richmond’s next competition will be the North Carolina Cheerleading Coaches Association’s championship on Jan. 20. The event will be held at Davie County High School.
