February 11, 2017, is a day Blackman cheerleaders will remember for a long time. Blackman’s varsity coed cheer team was named the 2017 UCA Small Coed National Champions . . . again.

The goal for the team this year was to go to Nationals and perform a solid routine, and that is exactly what they did.

“Being a junior on this team and having never won before, I cannot put into words how proud of my family I am. The amount of hours, sweat, blood, and tears all showed on the mat, and I couldn’t be happier,” said Kaeli Dorsey.

The team gained their last National Title in 2014. They regained the name this year after having beat out 32 other varsity coed groups.

“During awards when they had called third place and it was a different team, I knew we had won and started crying. When they called the other team for second, and then us for first, I started freaking out and jumping around and hugging everyone on the team. It was great,” stated sophomore Summer Lester.

The Blackman coaches, Courtney Gregory and Heather Wortman, brought home her fifth national championship this year, putting Blackman Cheer back on top.

“It is certainly special to have been part of our program’s fifth national championship!  Each title has been totally unique, but all have reflected  the hard work, passion, and drive it takes to be successful.  This year’s team exemplified those attributes in every way,” stated Gregory.

Gregory and Wortman are proud of the team’s accomplishments this year, and they are excited as to what next year will bring.

“The ultimate goal for this year was bringing back the reputation Blackman’s alumni built. We wanted to bring the pride behind the Blackman name back,” said Hannah Claire Candlish, senior.

Candlish was the only one left from the 2014 championship team, and she explained how proud she was to help bring back another title to the Blackman program.

“It’s the little things. It’s the ‘let’s go Kaeli’ I yell before her full. It’s the look that says ‘we got this’ Sofia and I give each other before the ending pyramid. It’s the ‘okay, so after we hit the routine, we’re all going to meet in the middle and takeoff.’ It’s everything,” stated Candlish.

The Blackman community has shown their support of the squad all year, and once again, they brought the name “back to Blackman.”