ALMA (KFSM) -- The Alma High School cheer team won the UCA National Championship in Orlando Florida this weekend. The Airedales finished with the number-one spot in the Medium Varsity Game Day competition with a score of 95.10 and beat 17 other squads.
"We`re just so excited and over the moon and it really hasn`t sunk in yet," Christy Law, head coach said.
The team competed this weekend in the National Cheerleading High School Championship at the Walt Disney World Resort.
After preliminaries, the squad was in fifth place, but made a comeback for the top spot.
"It was a huge jump," Law said. "We weren`t expecting it. We were almost expecting to stay in the fifth or forth place area, but they kept announcing names and it wasn`t us and finally, they announced that we were champions."
Looking, back the squad had a long journey to Orlando. The school requires its cheerleaders to win a state title before they can enter a national competition.
"When we finally found out we won state, then reality sunk in that we got to go to nationals," Law said. "Once you go to nationals, it`s an all new ballgame, so we had to change up our whole routine and get everything ready."
The cheerleaders said the hard work was worth it and every stunt, tumbling pass and full-out routing lead them to the moment the squad got to walk into Alma's gym with the student body cheering them on at a pep rally.
"You have to really sacrifice a lot of time through school work, free time with your friends," Anna Grace Chapen, senior cheerleader said. "You have to sacrifice a lot of time for cheer, but in the end, it`s completely worth it."
The Airedales, who are undefeated, won the division at the Van Buren, Heritage and Bentonville Invitationals. According to the school's website the team was named the Over all Champion at the Van Buren.
For the national championship title, the cheerleaders and coach received national champ jackets, gold medals and a trophy.