Three hip-hoorays for the cheerleading squads that competed at the National High School Cheerleading Championship last month. Centerville and Hagerstown’s high school competition squads, and the North Stars recreational cheer team, all won bids to the multiday event at Disney World in Orlando.
CHS scores magical top-10 finish
Centerville’s squad of 20 returned to the national mat for a fourth year in a row. Coach Liz Butler explained how they exceeded their goal of returning to the finals by placing in the top 10, a school record. Butler described the weekend as magical.
Butler cheered at Centerville and later coached a youth cheer team for 10 years. She told WWN in an email that “watching this team make it to finals is one of my proudest moments as a coach.” Butler said, “They believed in themselves when it mattered most, pushed through pressure, and performed with confidence and grit. They didn’t just represent this program — they elevated it.”
This was CHS junior Victoria Pullon’s third trip to nationals with the team. She has cheered since kindergarten.
“What made this year so different from the other years we have competed is our trust, bond and connection within the team; we all wanted to put our best effort out there and make it to finals equally,” Pullon said.
North Stars surpass goals in debut
First-year program North Stars Recreational Cheerleading squad debuted at the competition, scoring a sixth-place finish overall. The team is made up of girls ages 11-18 and led by former Northeastern High School cheer coach Chelsea Wine.
“We understood going in that we were the underdogs with the least amount of experience and the least amount of athletes on the mat,” said Wine about heading to Nationals. “But that didn’t stop us — the girls put out a clean routine and out of 13, we were the only team without any deductions.”
Northeastern junior Claire Larsh competed at nationals with her school’s team last year. She’s been cheering since elementary school.
“My favorite part of the experience is making memories with my team, and also watching all the months of hard work finally pay off,” Larsh said. She’s looking forward to returning to the national stage with the North Stars and getting even better results.
The North Stars are currently recruiting for the 2026 season.
Hagerstown makes history
The Hagerstown Tigers squad, led by coaches Kayla Vinson and Erica Glunt, scored the school’s first-ever national championship bid, delivering a team-best score.
Both Tiger cheer team alumnae, Vinson and Glunt detailed how they made the team’s dream a reality in less than six months.
“Kayla and I immediately started working and were like, ‘Okay, how are we gonna do this?’ We wanted to make it happen for the girls,” Glunt said.
A version of this article appeared in the February 11 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.