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BC cheerleaders take 7th in state

Cowboys QB joins celebration

For the Record

The Bridge City High School cheerleaders finished seventh in the state among Class 4A schools at the new UIL Spirit State Championship held at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Their dinner-time celebration included a surprise visit from Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.

“They forgot they had come in seventh in the state when they saw his face,” Michelle Huff, cheerleaders coach, said.

The Thursday night visit was arranged by Huff’s fellow BCHS teacher Valrie Gilbeaux, who is assistant cheerleaders coach, as a reward for the girls.

Prescott is Gilbeaux’s nephew. He visited with the girls at a Frisco restaurant. About 45 miles east of Fort Worth, Frisco is home to the Cowboys’ new headquarters called “The Star.”

The squad for the Wednesday-Thursday competition consisted of 20 girls, Huff said.

Senior Maddie Thibodeaux is the head cheerleader.

“She and her fellow seniors brought this team together by motivating them and pushing them to be the best that we knew we could be,” Huff said.

Other seniors on the squad are mascot Alexis Bertrand, Ashton Bonin, Kayleigh Collier, Carlee Dearing, Abby Faulk, Alyssa Fukuda, Hope Hill and Taylor Trevino.

Juniors are Shania Dies, Kaylene Droddy, Mackenzie Land, Mackenzie Murdock, Jacelynn Price and Nicole Smith.

Sophomores are Tori Bertrand, Taylor Fountain, Makenzie Martin and Maddie Price. Shelbi Whitaker is the lone freshman.

A total of 80 Class 4A schools began the competition Wednesday, a group that included area schools Little Cypress-Mauriceville, Silsbee and Huffman Hargrave.

LC-M finished 19th, Huff said. She said Texarkana Pleasant Grove was the 4A champion.

“We’d like to thank our principal Mrs. [Elisha] Bell, our cheer family and community for all their support,” Huff said.

After Wednesday’s scores were complete, the competition was cut to the top 20 teams for Thursday’s finals.

Bridge City ranked No. 10 after the first day.

“This was the second year they held competition and the first for us to compete in it,” Huff said. “It’s growing every year; they’re talking about holding regional competitions next year.”

Professional cheerleading trainers and coaches judged the girls. Competition each day consisted of three parts: fight song, crowd-leading cheer and band dance.

Bridge City earned a No. 5 ranking in the crowd-leading division, Huff said.

“In the finals they had a football announcer give us a situation and the girls don’t know it ahead of time,” Huff said. “They had to decide if it was offense or defense and do the right cheer.

“If you get that wrong, you might as well walk off the floor. Carlee Dearing, one of our senior cheerleaders and our football expert, she called it.”