November 15, 2010
Star staff reports

RICHMOND- James Wood High School's competition cheerleading team finished fifth at Saturday's VHSL Group AA state tournament at the Siegel Center.

The Colonels, making just the program's second state tournament appearance and first since 1999, finished the first round in third place overall. The top five teams advance to the second round and James Wood, Broad Run, Hidden Valley, Briar Woods and William Byrd moved on to the second and final round.

Briar Woods, the defending state champs, won for the second year in a row. William Byrd finished as the runner-up, Hidden Valley came in third, Broad Run followed in fourth, and James Wood took fifth.

James Wood High School coach Tracy Copley said the Colonels reached their goals with a solid performance.

"The goal going into states was top five," Copley said. "That's exactly what we wanted to achieve this year."

Copley said the team became the first in school history to place in the top five at the state tournament.

After the Colonels were third after the first round, Copley said the team made a couple miscues in the second round.

"The second round we had a couple deductions that dropped us down, but we were perfectly happy with fifth," Copley said.

James Wood's team includes Brittany Artrup, Jade Barber, Samantha Bennett, Peyton Clark, Celina Diaz, Mikayla DeMaio, Kristin Fincham, Abby Foura, Amanda Garland, Lauren Hepler, Ashley Kensinger, Irene Labille, Sierra McGraw, Gabby Pena, Lauren Parrish, Sarah Reeves, Rachel Sours, Megan Valentine, Amanda Wilson, and Alayna Wickline. The Colonels' alternates include Jordan Bayer, Hannah Parrish, Sara Schultheis, and Alisha Vernocy.

Sherando finished in ninth place.

Warriors coach Tom Grim said his team had an injury so they had to do a stunt without one of the girls on the floor, but he said his team made a good run with their fourth consecutive trip to the state tournament.

"They did a good job, and they never quit," Grim said. "All in all, I'm pleased with how they performed. We've had a good season.

"James Wood did an awesome job."