The weekend of Feb. 2 and 3, the cheerleading IHSA state finals was held at Illinois State University. Given that there are 4 different divisions competing throughout the competition, small and medium teams competed and received their awards first, while coed and large teams followed later in the day. Lemont, being a medium division team, performed at 10:00 a.m. on the first day, as the 10th team to show their skills.

Coming in 2nd place on day one, the team advanced to day two with a score of 87, only two points less than the 1st team, Crystal Lake Central. Determined to improve their score on day two, the team practiced at their hotel the night before to bring up their score.

“After performing on day one, knowing that we were in 2nd place, the nerves set in for the rest of the night,” said senior cheerleader Andrew Gonzalez.

Making it all worth while in the end, the team went out with the most energy they ever had. They took the floor at 11:55 a.m. with bright new uniforms to compliment their enthusiasm.  Hitting every stunt and tumbling pass they had in the routine, Lemont ended their performance with zero deductions.

“I was going through warmups getting updates on all the other medium teams and hearing that they were having issues, that’s when I knew we had a chance,” Gonzalez said. “ We went out and hit a routine with no deductions, even though it wasn’t perfect,” said Gonzalez.

Going into day two awards, the anxiety was very apparent not only with the team, but also the crowd. On the edge of their seats, the fans waited as each team walked out on the floor and sat in a circle, waiting for the top three places to be announced.

Finally, it was time to announce which team placed first for the medium division. The crowd went wild as the announcers named the Indians of Lemont the 2018 IHSA state champions for the second year in a row, becoming their sixth state win overall.

“It felt amazing to go back to back and it meant a lot this year because our team was so special. The fact that our fan section was filled with family and friends made it even better,” said senior cheerleader Stephanie Pinczes.

“They announced us for first and that’s when things got crazy. Lemont just went back to back and also won its sixth state championship and I, along with many others on the team, became a two time state champion,” Gonzalez said.

Being the only cheer team to have six state titles in Illinois and never placing lower than fourth in the state finals, Lemont has made IHSA history.