The first Ashe County Junior Huskies Cheerleading Competition Squad in county history has had one memorable season.

This squad was formed through the Ashe County Youth Cheerleading League that cheered for the local youth football teams. Tryouts were held for the team in September. The girls that made the squad knew that they would have to be dedicated and also have a lot of hard work ahead of them. These young ladies have made Ashe County very proud.

The Ashe Junior Huskies have girls from all of the local elementary schools and the middle school. The girls are Savannah Brooks, Samantha Johnson, Kaylyn Osborne, Jamie Richey, Brooklyn Roten, Alexa Simmons, Bennett Watson, Carolina Bare, Keely Caddell, Katelyn Cox, Haley Houck, Brooke Hogg, Jada Nichols, Callie Powell, Jessica Eastridge, Kelsey Hoffman, Skylar Taracido, Alexis Treadway, and Telena Poe.

This year, the girls have been to four competitions and have done an amazing job. The first competition that the team went to was the Triangle Regional Championship at Heritage High School in Wake Forest, NC on Jan. 9, 2010. The host for this competition was Cheer Ltd. They placed 1st in their division and received a bid to go to the 2010 CANAM National Competition.

The second competition was the Cupid Classic held at Catawba College in Salisbury, NC on Feb. 27, 2010. Spirit Solutions hosted this competition. In the competition, the Junior Huskies placed 1st in their respective division and placed the highest in all of the recreational divisions, and also received a 1st place bid to the US FINALS.

Competition number three was the All Day Cheerleading competition and was held at Gardner Webb University in Boiling Springs, NC on Feb. 28, 2010. Gardner Webb was host to this competition and the girls once again placed 1st. A member of the team, Brooke Hogg, also took first place honors in a jump-off competition.

Next, the squad went on to the National Competition in March along with the Ashe County High School cheerleaders and placed 1st runner up. Second place at Nationals is a huge accomplishment. The team was flawless in their performance. The routine is an extremely hard one for their ages, and on both days had a clean routine and hit everything perfectly. As a coach and a friend to the girls, I could not have asked for a better group. I’m so proud of what they have accomplished and their hard work.

We would like to thank all of the community for their support. The opportunity to take these talented young ladies to these competitions would not have been possible without the community help and support. Stephanie and I would also like to thank Eden Elliott and the family of each girl for their help and support. We could not have done this without them.

The Ashe County Junior Huskies will be attending one more competition this season. We will be attending the U.S. FINALS, Final Destination on May 1, 2010 in Virginia. Our goal is to bring home the championship title.