The Aerial’s Extreme youth cheerleading team finished second in the nation at the UCA National All Star Championships held at the Wide World of Sports venue in Walt Disney World, Florida.

The mini cheerleading team finished sixth in the nation.

A total of 26 young athletes from seven local school districts traveled to Florida to compete in the most prestigious all star competition in the country.

Coach Angie Layne said, “We have put in hours each week for a year to prepare for this one competition. We were the only team from Ohio in our age group and division. Our girls performed so well. They were a great representation of Wilmington and surrounding communities.”

There were 96 people including the team and community who traveled to Florida to watch the competition, Layne said.

“I didn’t get to see how well the other teams performed so it was hard to complain, but when the score sheets came we cried,” said Layne. “First place had a score of 290.88 (out of 360 points and two days of competition) and we had 290.04. We were within tenths of being national champions. Any of us would be lying to say we weren’t disappointed in the scores, but all year we have stressed to these girls the meaning of a champion.

“Webster defines champion as warrior and fighter — not until the fourth description does it mention winning first place in a contest. They are champions. Our shirts that we wore in Florida read ‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13.’ These families fought through illness, injuries, divorce, job loss and many other obstacles but we never lost site of our goal of qualifying for the championships and performing well once we got there. They are all champions and most important these kids learned to truly believe that all things are possible through Christ.”

To prepare for the competition, both teams traveled to Columbus in early March to compete in the US Spirit Arnold Nationals in conjunction with the Arnold Sports Festival. Both teams performed exceptional, by far the best of the year. The mini team finished second out of nine teams and the youth team finished second out of six teams.

In doing so well at the Arnold and at UCA Nationals, both teams earned a bid to compete at the International All Levels Cheerleading Championship. Due to funding and timing, the teams will not be able to attend that international competition.

For complete results and video coverage of the UCA National All Star Championship, log on to varsity.com. The competition will also air on ESPN2 on April 19 from noon to 1 p.m. For more information on Aerial’s Extreme cheerleading program, call 383-5700 or email aerialsathletics@yahoo.com.