By Stephen Smoot
While reclassification headaches have state postseason championships for Class A volleyball and all of football temporarily sidelined, the cheer tournament is full speed ahead.
And for the Wildcat cheerleading program, it’s an accomplishment 21 years in the making.
Rebecca Miller, head coach of the Pendleton County cheerleading squad, had high expectations for the current group coming into the season. She described how much of the current group won a Potomac Valley League title in 2021.
“They knew that when they were back together,” Miller noted, “that they would push each other to win and to do their best.”
Pendleton County earned their first title of the year when they competed for the Potomac Valley Conference championship on Oct. 29 in Keyser. Miller explained that “The PVC tournament is like our practice opportunity before the big reward.”
That big reward came in two parts, winning the region and qualifying for the state tournament at the Charleston Civic Center next month. “This was the first time in 21 years we’ve been to states,” said Miller.
She added that before competing in regionals, “They were definitely nervous. They put a lot of pressure on themselves to advance to states.”
At regionals, Miller shared that “we only had one mistake in the routine, but they bounced back and did really well.”
The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission move to four classes gave Pendleton County a boost. Other powers in the region before 2024, including Doddridge County, Petersburg, South Harrison, and Moorefield all now compete in Class AA in cheer. Petersburg was allowed to drop to Class A for football in 2024 after disputing reclassification.
Cheerleading squads earn points in four distinct areas: stunts and tosses, pyramids, running tumbling, and standing tumbling. Judges are selected to assign points for each and are not permitted to watch warm-ups.
Miller anticipates that in Charleston, the Wildcats will face a tough field as they work for a state title. She named Wahama, St. Marys, and Tyler Consolidated as squads to watch.
The team will leave Dec. 13 for Charleston, have one practice in the Charleston Civic Center, and then compete on Dec. 14.