Medford, Ore.– A local cheer team is tucking, jumping and stunting their way to the state championships one week and a national championship the next.
The Cascade Christian High School Cheer team held a showcase of their routine over the weekend to let the community view the hard work they’ve been putting in for years to reach their ultimate goal – a state championship title.
“This is the first year that I would say we really have a good shot at taking the state title,” said Head Coach Becky Abbott.
As a 1-3A division program, preparation for the state championships in Portland next week have started well before this school year.
“My goal is to go to state every year and compete in the state championships,” said Abbott. “We weren’t placing in the top five or anything but we were going and getting the experience.”
Now it seem’s all that hard work and experience is paying off. During the showcase on Saturday, Coach Abbott is taking pleasure in seeing how far things have come.
“When I came in 2013 we had a team of about seven,” said Abbot. “Now we have, between the middle school and the youth and the high school, we have 48 kids all together that are part of the Cascade Christian program.”
As a graduate and former cheerleader at Cascade Christian, Abbott is proud of not only the teams accomplishments but all of those who helped.
“It’s definitely not all me. We have a lot of coaches that help with this program,” said Abbott. “Some of the coaches are kids that I coached my first year and now they’ve come back and they have the same vision as me.”
With a solid base built from a group of hardworking athletes, training for the state championship and an opportunity at a national championship in California are underway. The group of seniors this year are especially proud of how far the program has come.
“It kind of blows my mind a little bit because it’s never something I would have imagined when I started cheerleading,” said Marina Croy, a senior cheer athlete.
For Croy, her last year is bittersweet, but as she move’s towards college she’s hoping to continue carrying the spirit she picked up from cheer.
“It’s an amazing experience that’s hard to describe,” said Croy. “I just love the competitions. I love the competitive aspect and I love putting on a great show and making people laugh and cheer for our team. It’s a great feeling.”
The Cascade Christian Cheer team will be competing at the 1-3A division OSAA State Championships in Portland on February 10th.
The team will then make their way down to Anaheim, California for the United Spirit Association Nationals on February 24th. They, along with the Henley High School Cheer team, a 4A division school, will represent Southern Oregon at the national championship.
*an earlier version ran that CCHS was the only cheer team from Southern Oregon heading to nationals
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