Over the weekend, Lake Oconee Academy’s cheerleading program had multiple individuals compete in a Georgia Cheerleading Coaches Association (GCCA) event at Columbus State University.
The competition saw athletes from all over the state from different classifications compete for the GCCA Cheerleader of the Year title, and Titans’ Adalyn Greer was just shy of that honor.
Greer was named the GCCA Cheerleader of the Year Runner-Up, and Lake Oconee Academy’s head coach Jennifer Blythe couldn’t have been prouder.
“Out of all 30 girls that were there for the event, Adalyn placed second,” Blythe said.
“It’s pretty intense, and there are people from all over the state there. We knew [she] was pulling skills at the top level. Her standing tumbling, her running tumbling, her jumps, her dance and motions were all done at a high caliber.”
The group Greer competed against included cheerleaders from several schools between Class 1-A all the way to Class 4-A, and it didn’t just involve her skills on the floor.
Blythe explained that to compete for a top spot, participants have to be well-rounded in many other areas outside of cheerleading as well.
“It’s based on an application where they turn in their community service [work], their GPAs, and then they have an interview that day that they sit through with the panel of judges,” Blythe said. “Then after that is when they compete on the floor.”
Over the past couple of years, Lake Oconee Academy has produced many exceptional finishes at the GCCA event, including a third-place finish two years ago and a first-place finish last season.
Greer was also accompanied by Titans’ teammate Lindsey Herring who was also named as a Top 30 cheerleader in the division. Most of the sections include individual work done on the floor to show judges specific skills, but Blythe acknowledged that Greer earned a high placement due to her stunting performance during the group portion of the contest.
“With the stunt sequence, she actually ended up taking a group that was very strong,” Blythe said. “They ended up doing well in the stunt area as well, so when she performed, she performed pretty much flawlessly.”
Heading into the season, Greer has already stepped up as one of the leaders of this Titans’ team.
Blythe has been with this senior group since they were in sixth grade, and she has seen so much growth, and that excites her for the upcoming season.
“To watch her grow from somebody that would just stand back and watch others and not really have anything to say, to somebody that’s leading and making sure the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed and everything is at the level she expects it to be has been really good,” Blythe said. “She is very vocal with the way things look, and she wants everything to look good enough for us to make a run at the state championship.”