By Stephen Smoot
At the Potomac Valley Conference cheerleading championships, the Wildcats roared, as they did in 2024.
This year, the team enjoyed home court advantage with the competition taking place at Pendleton County Middle/High School. Both Division I, encompassing schools larger than Class A, and Division II, the Class A cheer squads, came to Franklin.
“I am so proud of them!” exclaimed Rebecca Miller. Her Wildcats took on Union, Tygarts Valley and claimed the crown. She stated that they performed at the “best they ever looked when they needed to be.”
“They did everything their coaches asked them to do,” Miller added. “I cannot say enough good things.”
Miller praised her three seniors, who “are the leaders of this team.” This role they understood well since no seniors competed on the team last year. Two of them, Jaiden Mitts and Katelyn McQuain, took home individual all Potomac Valley Conference awards. McKinley Hedrick helped to provide the leadership that kept the team at what Miller described as “peak performance.”
At the meet, the team “absolutely peaked. They didn’t have any deductions and the judges only had good things to say.”
This year differed from last year in that half the total roster had gone to states last year. “There was a lot of pressure last year,” explained Miller, who added that they felt the nerves of a team looking to break a 21-year streak of not going to compete at state championship level competition.
She noted that although some of the girls go their separate ways outside of the sport, they share a tight bond within the team. They help and support each other, which builds an atmosphere of family and contributes to making the squad more than the sum of their parts.
As the team builds on its success year after year and reloads instead of rebuilds, Miller’s vision has emerged. She shared that “it was my goal to build a program, my mission to build a successful cheer program.”
On Nov. 8, the girls make the three-hour trek to Lincoln High School to compete in cheer regionals. The top two squads will go on to Charleston in December to compete with other regional winners for a state title.
For the third year in a row, Miller took home Coach of the Year honors, but stressed that the award “would not be possible without the girls. This is just as much their award as mine.”
