KISSIMMEE -- West Broward and Coral Glades found little resistance from opposing teams Friday as they repeated as competitive cheerleading state champions.
West Broward added to an already impressive season, which included district and region titles, to claim its third consecutive Class 2A championship in the large non-tumbling division.
Coral Glades came away as champions for the second year in a row in the Class 2A small non-tumbling division at Osceola Heritage Park’s Silver Spurs Arena.
“They went well beyond what I expected,” said West Broward coach Roy Lucas, in his first year with the team. “This is one of those sports where you’d like to peak at the right point and, if anything, they surpassed that peak [Friday] with that performance.”
West Broward used a crisp delivery in its routine to tally the highest overall score through two days of competition when it was awarded an 89 in the final round.
“Our transitions are a little more advanced than most other teams,” Lucas said. “While most teams go straight up and down with their tricks into their stunts, we do a full twist into our stunts and then flip into the next element.”
Seminole Ridge (84.6) placed second behind West Broward, and Blanche Ely, competing with 16 freshmen on its roster, came in third overall with 79.3 points.
Coral Glades returned 12 of 16 competitors from last year’s team and had high expectations of repeating as champions after placing third at districts and taking first at regions.
Once their routine was complete, specifically the difficult stunt portion of their set, there wasn’t much more Glades coach Amber Armellino could have asked from her squad. Even as uncertainty still lingered while pending the results.
“This was a good example of what we’ve looked like all season,” Armellino said. “It’s what I expected from them.”
Coral Glades earned an 85.4 from the judges to beat Wekiva (81.3) and Miramar (81), which won its district for the first time.
In other action, St. Brendan missed out on winning the Class 1A extra large division as it scored an 80.4 to finish runner-up to Jacksonville Providence (83.8).
Stranahan improved on its fifth-place finish at regions as it was awarded 73.4 points to come in fourth overall in the Class 1A large non-tumbling division behind West Palm Beach Kings Academy (83), Ocala Trinity Catholic (78.6) and Ocala North Marion (75).
The state championship series concludes Saturday.
















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