All-state honorees

The accolades keep mounting for the Patriot cheerleaders.

In February, they finished seventh at the Universal Cheerleaders Association national championships. In June, five seniors were named All Americans during their UCA camp.

On Friday, two of those seniors were honored as being among the best cheerleaders in Indiana.

Breea Liette and Sydnee Lee were selected among a group of 12 girls named to the Indiana All-State Cheer Team, the first Jay County High School cheerleaders to earn that honor.

“What makes them stand out is they always want to be better. They are never OK with just being OK,” said JCHS coach Ashley Loucks. “They literally make each other be better.

“There is really something special about this group,” she added of the entire senior class. “They bond well. It’s friendly competition, always. It’s always about making the other one better.

“To me, that is what’s special. … It is about that they truly want the best for this program.”

In order to be considered for the all-state honor, cheerleaders had to submit a one-minute video of their skills. Those videos, which included music and cheer sections, were then evaluated Thursday by a board of judges for the Indiana Association of School Principals, which oversees the Indiana Cheer Championship competitions.

The top 12 girls based on the board of judges’ scores were then named to the all-state team, which was announced Friday.

Loucks and fellow competition coach Abby Champ shared the news with the girls via a four-way phone call.

“I was just really excited because I really didn’t think we had much of a chance, honestly,” said Liette.

“I just wasn’t prepared (for it),” agreed Lee.

During their careers, Liette and Lee have been part of JCHS squads that finished third at the Indiana State Fair in 2014 and second in 2015, as well as second at the Indiana Cheer Championship State Finals in 2014 and fourth last year.

The Patriots shifted their focus last fall to UCA competitions, earning a bid to nationals at the Hoosier Championship and going on to place seventh in medium varsity Division II in Orlando, Florida.

Jay County was one of two schools to have a pair of cheerleaders make the all-state squad, joining Bedford North Lawrence.

The rest of the lineup included girls from Pendleton Heights, Floyd Central, Westfield, Lake Central, Jeffersonville, Silver Creek, Crown Point and Jasper.

The 12-member all-state squad will perform a cheer at the Indiana Cheer Championship State Finals on Nov. 4 at New Castle. Each girl will also show off some of the individual tumbling and/or jumps that helped her earn the honor.

“I remember seeing them perform last year,” said Lee. “It’s pretty cool that we get to do that.”

Being selected to the team also includes a college scholarship.

Both Liette and Lee are interested in the possibility of continuing their cheerleading careers in college, but neither has made a final decision on that front as of yet.

In their videos, the Patriot seniors focused on their strengths — tumbling and jumps. For Liette, that included two back handsprings into a full twisting layout, a triple jump into a back tuck, a round-off back handspring into another full and a toe-touch jump into a back tuck. Lee opened with cheering while jumping, and her routine included a triple jump into a back tuck, a round-off back handspring into a layout, a cartwheel into a back tuck and a toe-touch jump into a back handspring.

In addition to those skills, Loucks said she believes it was likely the girls’ cheering that help put them among the top 12 in Indiana.

“Both of their cheers were outstanding,” she said. “I really, truly do think that when the judges were watching that, these girls not only showed the athleticism of the sport, but they showed that they can be good cheerleaders and really engaging and grab your attention from the get-go.”