Bartow cheer wins 5th national title; Lakeland runners-up

A disciplined mentality by the Bartow Yellow Jackets cheer team led to the squad's fifth national championship over the weekend.

The Yellow Jackets placed first with a score of 93.2 in the large varsity coed category at the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship hosted at the Walt Disney World Resort. Lakeland High finished second with a score of 86.1 in the large coed non-tumbling division.

"I think for our kids, and our program, our goals began back in May with tryouts, and the kids kind of create their own routine with the help of the coaches ... so it's kind of just like everyone working together to create something that's going to be different than what we have done in previous years," Bartow head cheer coach Lori Jolliff said.

"And so just the creative side of things, but then also the actual putting it together ... all of those things happen right here in this practice room. So the actual championship itself, we just want that to be as fun and light-going as possible because all the work was done here in Bartow. Now it's just like, 'Let's go out and have fun and let's go hang out with our friends and play and perform and put on a great performance for our fans.'"

Historically known for its stunts and pyramids, Bartow as a cheer team pushed the envelope at nationals in an effort to outdo previous Bartow teams, which won national championships in 2012, 2016, 2019 and 2020.

Right from the beginning, the Yellow Jackets showcased a hand-in-hand, which is a skill the group has been opening up with since 2017. Then the cheer squad went into a front handspring, quarter turn into an arabesque with a full twist down to the ground.

For one of the pyramids, Bartow went into a backhand spring-up, pull-around, low-to-high, which is a very elite skill in cheer.

"Our cheer is more focused on crowd leading, Jolliff said. "We really try to make sure we incorporate the megaphones, sign work, so that it was easy to follow so that way the crowd could do the callbacks with us."

And for the first time after the cheer, Bartow performed full-ups, a stunt the cheer team really wanted to execute.

"Full-ups to me is one of those coeds that are really scary because it's a blind-landing skill. They don't really know to finish that turn at, and so for us to do it in the second half of that routine was a little risky, but obviously it paid out ... they smacked those full-ups."

In the end, Bartow, a team that was first place in the Class 2A large coed division in the state event a few weeks ago, outshined national teams by organizing a pyramid, a roundoff, a back spring, full twisting into a front pop.

Senior Trey Elliott, a stunt base, said he needed to work on patience ahead of nationals, but the responsibility of the coach, he said, was the key that could bring everyone together as a unit.

"(My mentality was) trusting the process, relying on trusting coach and knowing that she can give the underclassmen that are with us as well the same courage and the same information to do the same things that we do, and to be in sync with each other to perform as one and not 23 different individuals."

Senior Madison Holland, a top girl, said the team stayed driven.

"After state, it was really just staying focused and the drive so we can work harder, because they know what we can do and they see what we can do, so at that point it was a matter of doing it, but doing it better," Holland said. "...It was great. It was a feeling of relief at that point. ... I just want to say thank you to everybody — the team, the coaches the community, everyone that has helped us to get to where we went."

Lakeland placed second

After winning a fourth consecutive state title in the Class 2A large non-tumbling division a few weeks ago, Lakeland on Sunday didn't receive any deductions and placed as a runner-up in the large coed non-tumbling in nationals.

Competing in the semifinals on Saturday in a division against 13 other teams, including teams traveling as far as California, six teams advanced to finals on Sunday. And coming out of the semifinals, the Dreadnaughts were in first place and accomplished a goal of not committing any deductions, ending up in second place. This is Lakeland's third year placing second at nationals.

Mandeville High School from Louisiana won the division. But Lakeland head coach Crystal Abdon said she is elated about how competitive her team was.

"We are extremely proud of the kids and the team," Abdon said. "Our senior class has changed the culture and expectation of this program. They were four-time state champs and three-time national runner-ups."

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Bartow cheer wins 5th national championship; Lakeland finishes as runner-up