HANCEVILLE- The Liberty Lions’ competition cheer squad won both a first and third place finish at the recent State Cheerleading Competition held at Wallace-Hanceville Community College.

The Lions won first place in the Timeout Cheer division, which is includes a cheer that could be performed at halftime of events and includes stunts. They faced 16 schools in the competition. The Lions also placed third in the Medium Junior High division against eight other schools. The cheer routine includes many stunts, tumbling and dance to go along with a cheer.

“The girls have worked hard since April for the 2017-2018 season especially for the State Meet, which they showed their hard work paid dividends,” said Danielle Dykes, Liberty competition cheer coach. “As student-athletes, they have been balancing academics and cheer for months with great success.”

The Lions were scheduled to compete in the Southern Regional Championships this week in Birmingham and then focus their attention on the 2018 National Championships scheduled for Feb. 11-12 in Orlando, Fla. at the Wild World of Sports complex at Disney World. Those participating in the State Championships included Alaina Boyer, Alexis Wayne, Kiersten Tarcliff, Ashley Ahrens, Hannah Dumas, Emma Koerlin, Kayla Norris, Shayla Hawkins, Paris Dryer, Anna Kubic, Samantha Rhodes, Sarah Spickard, Annali Lougheed, Perri McMahan, Madisyn Burgess, Sidnie Brown and Ella Thomas.

The Monrovia Hawks were first place winners at the State event in the Medium Jr. High Division and the Bob Jones Patriots took top honors in the Junior Varsity division.