After weeks of practice and a North Suburban Conference Championship win under their belt, the Antioch Community High School varsity cheer team headed to DeKalb to see if their hard work would pay off at Sectionals. This past Saturday, Jan. 31, the cheerleaders came home with a Sectionals Championship title.

After a not-so-spectacular season the previous year, the cheerleaders have come back with a new coach and great intensity, placing in the top three in their category at nearly every competition. For six of the 20 cheerleaders on the team this was their last chance to make it to state. Taking first place at Conference motivated the team to take over Sectionals in hope to qualify for the State Championship.

Head coach Matt Dawes said, ” [The team] have the sole capability to close the door at any competition, if they know what they are capable of doing. I have never had a group of [cheerleaders] this talented and driven.”

This upcoming weekend, Friday, Feb. 6, and Saturday, Feb. 7, the cheerleaders will be heading to Bloomington to fight for the State Championship title. The team has high hopes of being successful this weekend.