Cougar Competition Cheerleaders Begin Season

Piedmont Academy’s competition cheerleading squad began the 2015 season Saturday at Grayson High School.

“We have come a long way since last season and the girls continue to excel,” said coach Tonya Coe.

Piedmont is now in its second season of fielding a competition cheer program.

“We knew it would be a tough competition Saturday going against Grayson, North Oconee, Peachtree Ridge and Loganville, who have all had programs for a while,” Coe said. “However, we wanted the challenge.”

The Cheer Cougars have 11 team members and will compete against schools in both the GISA and GHSA.

In Saturday’s event hosted by Grayson, a GHSA school, Piedmont was eager to begin the new season, its coach said.

“The girls did great in warm-ups and were excited to take the floor,” Coe said. “Once we began our routine, our nerves played a role since it was the first competition for us this season. We have a few things to work on to improve our scores for our next week, but overall we did well. The girls are a blessing to work with and they are very competitive.”

Tumbling is a key element in competition cheerleading. A year ago, the Cheer Cougars had five squad members with tumbling ability but with offseason work leading into 2015-2106, Piedmont now has the majority of its team with tumbling abilities.

The cheerleaders work with coaches from Newton CheerStarz and Coe said all squad members should be able to contribute in the tumbling aspect soon.

“I have a special group and I think they will place in more than one competition this year because of their hard work to get better each week,” the coach said.

Team members include senior Bridgette Phillips, junior Bailyn Whitaker, sophomores Railey Holloway, Sara Hammonds, Caitlyn Young, Emma Kate Edmonds, Sydney Reardon and Taylor Patterson; freshmen Sydney Davis and Meg Collins and eighth grader Morgan Whitley.

Upcoming competitions include trips to Putnam County (GHSA) on Oct. 3; Gatewood (GISA) on Oct. 10; Loganville Christian Academy (GISA) on Oct. 31; at Brentwood (GISA) on Nov. 7; at Briarwood (GISA) on Nov. 14. The GISA state competition is scheduled for Nov. 21 at John Milledge Academy.