At this year’s State Cheer and Dance Competition at the Heartland Center in Grande Island, all the hard work and practices that the team and coaches put into their routine paid off with a fantastic routine, entertaining stunting and superior crowd-encouragement. The Sparkles shined brightest out of the seven Unified teams across the state, bringing with them CHS’s second state championship this school year.

Coaches include Shellsea Warner, Carys Graham, Kaylen Nuno and Emily Mausbach with head coach and organizer Brenda Huey. They began throwing out routine ideas in early November, but brought the minute-long routine to life in December. With only a 40-minute practice every Tuesday and only a month to learn the routine, the girls put together a spectacular performance! 

When asked about the hardest part of the routine, Shellsea Warner stated how forming the words was the most difficult part. However, once those words were figured out, the rest of the routine went smoothly.

During the results of the competition Warner stated, “During awards I felt major nervous anticipating our name to be announced, I knew that the girls nailed the routine and I was proud of them no matter what.” 

“We were all sitting together holding hands just waiting for our names to be announced and when we heard the team's name over the speakers as the 2023 Unified State Champions pure excitement came across everyone's faces.”

The jubilation was palpable.  Warner added, “Some of the girls couldn't believe it and we couldn't help but start jumping and yelling in extreme excitement. I remember looking at one of the other high school coaches sitting to my left and realizing we were both crying, we were all so proud of how hard these girls have worked all season, and for them to see how well they did at state was really moving. I also saw the other Columbus High School cheerleaders congratulating the Sparkles girls and showing their support to their fellow cheerleaders which made their experience just that much more meaningful.”

The Sparkles coaches along with the rest of the Columbus Cheerleaders are all very proud of the Sparkles team. With all their dedication and work that they have put in along with state and learning cheers for basketball and football games, they have really shown their dedication and commitment to participating and wanting to show their support for the different teams. 

Warner wanted to say a big thank you to all the coaches, girls, cheerleaders, and their parents for being so supportive throughout the season and putting all the hard work in! It absolutely paid off and we can’t wait to see what they put together for next season!

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