The Carrollton High School cheerleading team captured back-to-back state championships and its seventh state title overall Saturday at the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) State Championships held at the Columbus Civic Center.
“This team went undefeated all year. It is so hard to stay on top knowing all of these other great teams are constantly chasing you for a top finish. I’m so proud of our girls and their tenacity. It’s a great feeling to win a back to back state championship but it is a result of so much dedication and hard work from everyone,” says Coach Sanders.
Carrollton earned its first state title in 2001, just seven years after cheerleading became a sanctioned Georgia High School Association sport. That year, CHS competed as a AAA school, subsequently earning four titles at that classification rank.
Carrollton later won a state championship as a AAAA school in 2015 before moving up to AAAAA. Last year, Carrollton captured the title at that higher classification, followed by this year’s championship win.
The team, undefeated in regular season, qualified for state after earning its seventh straight region title last Saturday at the University of West Georgia Coliseum.
The team is coached by Elizabeth Sanders, a 2008 graduate of Carrollton High School. As a cheerleading athlete, she was part of the CHS state championship team in 2004-2005, followed by two runner-up finishes as a Trojan. She then went on to earn three national titles as a cheerleader for the girls squad at the University of West Georgia. Saturday’s title win is Sanders’ third as head coach. Last year, she was named the 2018 Georgia Cheerleading Coaches Association Coach of the Year.
Cheerleading is now tied with football as the third competitive activity with the most state titles with seven each. Boys track tops the list with 27 titles, followed by debate with 10.
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