Jay County takes state fair title

INDIANAPOLIS — The student section at Patriot boys basketball games has made a habit of pointing at its cheerleaders and chanting, “Ours are better” to the opposing fans.
The girls continue to prove their supporters right.
Jay County High School’s cheerleading squad put everything together Saturday, winning the Indiana State Fair championship for the second time in the last three years.
“They went berserk once they announced Hamilton Southeastern (in second place),” said Weaver, who was on stage with seniors Jenna Barber, Alexis Cook, Lauren Runkle and Makayla Jobe during the presentation of awards. “They were just going crazy jumping around.”
Jay County, which took the 2010 state crown and finished second to Brownsburg a year ago, won the title ahead of runner-up Hamilton Southeastern. Tri-West finished in third place.
Weaver noted that she knew the Patriots had definitely earned their championship as they were the last squad to compete in the finals.
“It’s really good to be in that spot,” she said. “Actually, it’s a lot of pressure.
“But that means they’ve seen it all, and if you win, you won.”
Weaver said her squad’s routine in the afternoon during preliminary round was less than perfect.
Several JCHS cheerleaders had to touch the mat to catch their balance at different points during the routine. And the big pyramid midway through the routine did not come together.
But the Patriot coaching staff knew their squad could be in contention for the title, so between the preliminaries and the finals they made some adjustments.
It paid off.
“The toe-touch back handspring … that was just all really on. And you could tell the girls felt all that,” said Weaver of her squad’s effort in the finals. “And then we go into the building — that’s been a little shaky all summer — and we just nailed that. … The girls could feel the energy then.”
Jay County hit its round off handspring tucks perfectly, and then nailed the pyramid section that had caused problems during preliminaries. Weaver said the tumbling section wasn’t as good as she would have liked, but it ended strong.
“Rhianon (Mills) hit her full, and that got our crowd pumped up,” Weaver said. “And then we’re home free at that point. … You could tell they knew how well they had done, so they were just hitting the rest with excitement.
“We had our best performance of the whole summer.”
The championship put an exclamation point on an outstanding state fair career for the JCHS seniors.
Jobe, Runkle, Cook and Barber walk away with two Indiana State Fair championships, having also won as members of the varsity squad in 2010. They were part of last season’s runner-up squad, and also finished second in the junior varsity competition as freshmen in 2009.
“They’re really quiet seniors. So maybe that’s part of their success,” said Weaver. “They come to practice and they do their job. I think the younger girls see that. They don’t take the easy way out. They do everything.”
Jay County has always had a strong cheerleading program, but went through nearly a two-decade stretch without a title. Prior to breaking through in 2010, their last championship came in 1991.
Weaver said along with her talented group of cheerleaders, she also gives a lot of credit to her fellow coaches.
“I’m in seventh heaven with my coaching staff,” said Weaver, who is in her 34th season leading the Patriots. “Andrea (Oswalt) and Jenni (Stout) had been with me for years and now have come back. Abby (Champ) has been an integral part. I’ve kind of turned over summer to her a little bit, so I have to give her a lot of credit. Her experience with (the Universal Cheerleader’s Association) is invaluable.”
The state fair crown finished a strong competition season for JCHS, which finished third behind Tri-West and Bloomington South during UCA camp championships at Indiana University in June.
“I ask that the girls have their best performance, and that happened,” Weaver said. “It’s a lot of fun. … They deserve it. They work hard.”[[In-content Ad]]