A very busy past three months has resulted in some serious hardware for Bingham’s competitive cheerleading team a long way from home. 

“This past weekend, they competed at the National Cheerleading competition in Orlando, Florida and came home with an incredible second in state,” Bingham head coach Amber Thomas said. “This success can be attributed to the amazing leadership, competitive nature and discipline of this senior class.” 

Led by captains Lina Appel, Riley Scott, Sasha DeHerrera, Ella Harrison, Ashley Larson and Audrey Thomas, the Miners were at Walt Disney World from Feb. 9-12 and competed for two separate days to earn the second-place trophy. 

The first day in Orlando turned out a little rough, according to Thomas, as she explained how the semifinal format worked to City Journals. 

“There were 23 teams in our division, and they would be taking 12 into finals. We were the third team competing in the lineup that morning, which is really hard because the scores build throughout the day,” Thomas said. “We went out and started strong, but then we quickly had two mistakes uncharacteristic of this team. We also had a fall in the pyramid.” 

Because of this, the judges deducted three points from the Miners’ score. 

“We were just praying that we would be in the top 12 to move onto finals,” Thomas said. “The judges must have wanted to see us again because after waiting all day long, we finally were announced as a finalist tied for ninth place.” 

With the announcement from the judges over the loudspeakers at Walt Disney World that Bingham was heading into the final round, a wave of emotion poured over the team. 

“We were elated to be moving on and very humbled by our first routine,” Thomas said. “We refocused the team, did a few practices, and came out on Saturday prepared to take the mat.” 

From that point on, the Miners were ready to roll. 

“This team was a different team on day two. They were full of fire and energy and brought the crowd to their feet,” Thomas said. “When they hit that first section, we knew as coaches that they were not messing around this time.” 

On this go-round, there would be no mishaps or falls on which the judges might dock points. In fact, the routine was about as perfect as the Miners could do—though it still meant that one of the highest scores would unfortunately still place Bingham second, per the UHSAA guidelines that prohibit Utah’s high school teams practicing as much as the first place team would. 

“As their last few beats of the music played, girls were screaming with excitement and dismounted their stunts and immediately embraced their teammates with love,” Thomas said. “We were so happy that they had a second chance to take the floor that when the awards ceremony came around, we did not care what place we had earned.” 

Thomas said winning in Orlando was a great way to wrap a successful season for a Bingham team that won a slew of trophies this season: they took both USA Regionals titles as well as the national qualifying event. 

The Miners won titles in the time out dance and show categories and overall at the Northern Divisionals at SLCC Jan. 13 and capped off the year winning the second place trophy at the 6A state tournament on Jan. 25 inside Orem’s UCCU Center. 

For Thomas though, one particular moment in Orlando will stick with her for a long time. 

“When we got to the top three [during national finals], it was like being in a dream. This team was more excited to earn second place than the first-place team. 

As a coaching staff, we have been so proud of their resilience, leadership and discipline all year long. This was an experience that I don't think that any of us will ever forget. We had so much support from family and friends, but the Utah teams really showed us so much love while we were there.” 

In addition to that second place trophy in Varsity Division I, the Miners’ cheer teams also placed third in the junior varsity Coed Division I category in Orlando and took fourth in JV Game Day Division I. 

Coaches for the Miners were Amber Thomas, Taylor Davis, Curtis Finneman, Megan Boelter, Alaina Woodbury and Brooklyn Eldredge. λ