Ending a 12-year drought, the Columbia High School cheerleading squad got back to the top of the podium with two of its all-time best routines this weekend at the IHSA state meet in Bloomington. 

The Eagles received a first place score of 93.82 in the preliminary round of the small team competition on Friday, besting second place Mater Dei by nearly three full points to advance to Saturday’s final. 

Although a score like that is tough to top, Columbia did just that on Saturday, finishing with a score of 93.92 to take home the state trophy for the first time in 12 years. 

Richmond placed second in the finals with a score of 92.30.

It was the highest score ever for the Eagles in the IHSA finals.

Columbia won its fifth overall IHSA state title, adding to titles won in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. 

The Eagles are pretty much annual visitors to the IHSA state meet, but fell just short several times since their last title. Columbia placed second in 2023, 2017 and 2015 and third overall in 2020.

Two coaches have been there through it all: Robbie Walters and Marla Rose.

“We have been fighting since 2013 for the state title, and every year we get talented kids that band together,” Walters said during a welcome home reception for the state champs Sunday afternoon in the CHS gym. “But there was something very different about this group.”

Walters said that once the team found its core 11 members, “it was like the most magical experience.”

The team enjoyed practicing and putting in the hard work to be great, he said.

Key words Walters used to describe this year’s cheerleading bunch included “grit,” “determination,” “sheer will” and “mental strength.”

The 2025 state champion CHS cheerleaders are Ava Stanley, Maya Dill, Morgan Kelley, Lylah Bridges, Mia McConachie, Daylen Stevens, Lucy Moore, Sophia Walters, Maddie Mudd, Ellie Davis and Addie Ramage.

“It’s a heart-wrenching sport that’s unlike any other animal out there,” Walters said. “(They) didn’t melt under pressure.”

After winning the school’s 12th Illinois Cheerleading Coaches Association state title in January, Columbia placed second at the IHSA Mascoutah Sectional behind Mater Dei  to qualify for state.

That runner-up showing in the sectional motivated Columbia to new heights at the state meeting. 

The state finals are always a “pretty hectic” experience, Walter said, but his cheer squad “nailed the performances like you dream of.”

“There was no doubt who the winner was,” he said.

Rose got emotional when talking about this year’s squad and the extreme amount of joy it brought her.

“Every single one of them loves this sport, and it shows,” she said. “Their hearts are so good. It made my heart grow.”

All of the practices, dedication and blood, sweat and tears came down to the main stage in Bloomington for the state meet. 

Columbia rose to the occasion. 

“You don’t hit this two days in a row,” Rose said of performing flawless routines at state. “But no. They hit it, and then they hit it again.”

And now Columbia stands alone at the top of 81 IHSA sanctioned competitive cheerleading teams in the small division.