Bay High's cheer squad takes second at Contest of Champions Cheerleading Nationals

When the lights came on last Saturday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World Resort, Bay High's cheer squad performed like seasoned veterans.

The catch, however, is that the Tigers were competing in their first national competition against some of the best squads in the nation.

The spotlight and stage didn't phase them as they ended up taking second place in the advanced non-tumbling category at the 2016 Contest of Champions National Championship.

"This is my third year with the program and it has always been a goal of mine to get them to that level and a goal of theirs, to expose them to cheerleading outside of what we have in our immediate area," coach Courtney LaFontaine said. "This was an amazing opportunity to compete against teams from all around the country."

Adding to the accomplishment was the fact Bay High had to change routines three times during the course of its season. Where most teams fine tune one routine over the course of a season, Bay High has had to change its routine due to various circumstances -- and they still nailed their performance.

"They have all done so well. Our main goal was to remember to do our best," LaFontaine said. "We knew going in the odds were going to be against us, but our motto was 'one team, one dream,' which meant doing the best at nationals.

"Once we got to Disney, we weren't going to worry about everything else. We just did our best ... They were rewarded for it."

LaFontaine said her team's ability to focus on the task at hand and not get caught up in everything else was what propelled them to medal.

"They did they best they could. I was very proud of how they did," she said. "With changing the routine so many times, there was some confusion during practices -- it is hard to not get frustrated.

"They put that aside. They put their differences aside and came together to accomplish their goal."

In addition to the overall medal, sophomore co-captain Keely Jones earned the "Wow Award," which goes to a handful of competitors who display the "wow factor" at the competition.

This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Bay High's cheer squad takes second at Contest of Champions Cheerleading Nationals ."