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Bowling Green High School cheer still reveling in national championship victory
The Bowling Green High School Purples cheer team won the Medium Varsity Game Day Division II national championship in Orlando, Fla. on Feb. 7. The victory marked the first national championship for the program after numerous appearances in the competition since 1997. (Courtesy: Bobbi Dotson)

Bowling Green High School cheer still reveling in national championship victory

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (BVM) — The Bowling Green High School Purples cheer team added some white to its color scheme in February. This wasn’t because of a switch in uniform or even a logo, but because the team earned the coveted white jackets from the Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) following the UCA’s High School Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, Fla. on Feb. 7. Yellow block letters on the back of the jackets signified all the team accomplished and all it ever wanted: 2020 National Champions.

“In the early ‘80s the white satin jacket and medals were first awarded to the national champion. A white jacket is the most iconic item in cheerleading, and now the 2019-2020 Bowling Green High School cheer team members are officially national champions and owners of their very own white jacket,” head coach Bobbi Dotson said.

“To have this jacket on our backs, we worked so hard for it so we’re super proud of our accomplishments and what we’ve come back with so far,” senior cheerleader Chloe Milliken told WBKO.

The victory was the first-ever national championship for BGHS, who won the Medium Varsity Game Day Division II competition. The team has participated in the national championship as far back as 1997 and last year finished in third place, but this year the team was finally able to break through. The 2020 National High School Cheerleading Championship and National Dance Team Championship featured over 25,000 athletes and over 1,000 teams from across the country. For the competition, the team had to perform a band dance, a sideline cheer, a competition cheer and its fight song routine.

“In 2020, the UCA National competition had over 950 teams. Thirty-four states and nine countries were represented. That is 19,848 athletes dreaming of a white jacket,” Dotson said. “There were over 500 teams who competed in the (Game Day) division. Unlike most sports, cheerleading does not offer quarters, timeouts or halftime, they have exactly three minutes to hit their routine perfectly.”

The team received the championship treatment upon its return from Florida. The Warren County Sheriff’s Department gave the squad an escort back to campus. For the team’s five seniors, Milliken, Katie Tibbs, Devyn Bell, Myrycal Reed and Eden Coleman it was a culmination of all their hard work, and they were excited to be able to bring the national championship back to their school.

“We’re so excited,” Tibbs told WBKO. “I can’t describe how we’re feeling.”

Following nationals, the team received recognition throughout Kentucky. In February, the team was honored by the Bowling Green City Commission and the Warren County Fiscal Court for their national championship victory. The Purples were recognized in March by the Kentucky House of Representatives in Frankfort. The national championship adds to a strong tradition of success for BGHS cheer, and tradition has been a common mantra for the Purples.

For 20 years, the team has used the same logo style, known as its signature script. The script has seen many successes in Purples athletics throughout its history including six football state championships, a boys basketball state championship and a Kentucky High School Athletics Association state championship in 2017 for competitive cheer in the Game Day Small Division. The script has seen successes nationally as well, including runner-up finishes at the UCA nationals in the Large Varsity Coed Division in 2005, 2006, and 2007, a 2004 UCA national partner stunt championship, a 2017 UCA national all-girl partner stunt championship and the third place finish at nationals in 2019.

Now, the team can add national champions to its already long list of accomplishments.