Region dominance

Obviously, there's a tremendous amount of talent here in our region.”

Lexington competitive cheer head coach Leigh Watson on Region 4-5A, which also includes River Bluff, Dutch Fork, Chapin and White Knoll, taking the top three spots at the Class 5A state qualifier Nov. 12 at Lexington High School.

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The reaction from Lexington High School competitive cheer head coach Leigh Watson to the final tally of the S.C. High School League Class 5A state qualifier was shocking and humble.

"Finishing in a tie, I thought 'wow, oh my goodness. That's crazy right, that like, how talented our school district is with cheer?'," she said. "I think that's kind of overwhelming."

The host team Lady Wildcats and Lexington School District One archrival River Bluff finished tied for first place at 343.5 points. Defending champion and fellow Region 4-5A member Chapin finished third with 329.5 points and Dutch Fork sixth with 305 points in advancing to the Nov. 19 state finals at Colonial Life Arena.

Lady Gators head coach Koren Haney also sounded similarly pleasantly surprised by the results.

“We were so excited to hit our routine and walk off the mat feeling proud of what we did,” Haney said. “The win made it even sweeter. Lexington has a fantastic program with so much talent and we are proud to share the title with them. Our region is incredibly strong, and we are so thankful to be surrounded by such amazing athletes and coaches.”

Three Region 4-5A teams have accounted for all six Class 5A competitive cheer champions since its 2016 inception.

“Being in the vicinity of so many incredible teams serve as a motivator for us,” Haney said. “They push us to be better. While we tell the girls to focus on what we can control - which is our performance -, we must continually push the boundaries to compete at such a high level.

“At the end of the day and off the mat, our girls are friends with so many Lexington, Chapin, and (Dutch Fork) cheerleaders. They are great supporters of each other. We are thankful to live in a community that supports and appreciates competitive cheer the way Lexington County does.”

"Obviously, there's a tremendous amount of talent here in our region," Watson said. "I think there's also, there's a commonality of coaches that have been here forever, you know, like, been there a while anyway, with some experience, and I think that that that helps, obviously, to build the program.

And there's some history there. So, I think that that helps with Chapin, and they obviously have a long history. River Bluff has had a coach that's been there for a long time.  I've been here for a few years. I have coached, but before that I was the assistant. So, there's been some consistency and I think that consistency in coaching have certainly bared out in the success of those three programs."

Compared to the 2020 state championship team, Watson believes this year's Lexington team are a little more ahead in pushing themselves to increase their level of difficulty on routines. This group is also younger with only five seniors, but Watson believes their hard work compensates for the experience.

The grind of two decades of leading the winningest competitive cheer program in South Carolina has not diminished Chapin head coach Vicki Williams's spirit and will to win.

With daughter Billie at her side, the elder Williams passionately addressed her defending Lady Eagles following their performance at the state qualifier.

"Well, I've been doing this 20 years, 21 years at Chapin," Williams said. "Each year, we upped the bar a little bit, make it a little harder. We must hit the difficulty a little bit better, a little bit harder every year and then we just practice. Each year, you've got a different team coming in. You've got different girls. You've got different skill levels and you just start at the bottom."

While the judges saw one thing, Williams' eyes were keen on missteps and errors which could cost them a shot at a 17th state title a week from now at Colonial Life Arena.

"I think we can be good," Williams said. "I mean, in this sport you've got to hit. If you don't hit at state, you're not going to win."

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