MA cheer competes in national championships

ORLANDO, FLA. – The fiveday trip of fun, excitement and competition for the cheer squad from Madison Academy was certainly one to remember. The Mustangs posted their best performance and highest score of the year narrowly missing a spot in the Semi-Finals of the 2025 UCA High School Cheerleading National Championships held in Orlando, Fla.

The best performance presented the squad with a “Hit 0,” which is the slogan used for no overall deductions, thus placing 13th in the Large Varsity Division II Non-Tumbling Game Day competition. The top nine scores advance to what is the semi-finals.

“We are always competing against ourselves with the goal to be better than we were the last time out as representatives of our school, ourselves, our families and the Lord,” said Brooke Johnson head coach of the Lady Mustangs. “I feel we did that. This was our best performance of the year and our highest score of the year, so we felt good coming off the mat.”

The members of the cheer squad are regarded as some of the hardest working student-athletes at the private school and they certainly represented the school on the highest stage in high school cheerleading. The competition was held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex as part of Disneyworld.

For more than 40 years, the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships has been the culmination of the season for cheerleaders from across the nation who make their way to the Sunshine State and Walt Disney World Resort.

“This was our second year at Nationals and we felt like we were good enough to advance as our score showed we were,” added Johnson, who receives coaching support from assistants Shelley Knox and Jill Tucker. “We are already setting big goals for next year.”

Team members included: Seniors: Abbey Knox (Captain), Mary Tanner Tidmore, Kaley Adkins, and Meg Armstrong; Juniors: Emily Loy and Rebecca Olsen; Sophomores: Bella Tucker (Co-Captain), Arabella Glasgow, Ava Childress, Savannah Bull, Ellie Kate Thorson, Molly Thomas, Taylor Arch, Molly France, Kyla Knapp, Kenzie Teal, Ella Grace Williams; Freshmen: Ember Andrews, Ellie Bishop, Alie Glover, Hadley Kent, Katherine Minor.