Fort Walton Beach High School’s cheer team captured three national championship titles over the weekend at the ACC Nationals Championship at Universal Studios, culminating in a grand championship victory against teams two to three times their size.
- The 15-member squad won traditional national champion and game day national champion titles before earning the competition’s highest honor Sunday evening: national grand champion for game day.
The Vikings competed inside Islands of Adventure Theme Park among 90 to 100 teams throughout the weekend event. The team performed five times over the course of the competition.
Only the top four highest game day scores from the entire competition, regardless of size or division, qualified to compete in the final round for the grand champion title. Fort Walton Beach entered the championship round as the No. 3 seed.
Competing against significantly larger programs in the final round, the Vikings posted the highest game day score of the entire competition to claim the grand champion title.
The championship sweep adds to a dominant season for the Fort Walton Beach program. The team captured regional and state championships before heading to nationals, led by four-year senior captains Ny’Asia Burton and Stella Swint.
- Head coach Kristal Duval, in her 12th year at Fort Walton Beach, guides the program alongside assistant coach Courtney Barnes. The team works twice weekly with competition choreographers Mel Simpson and Jordan Cocker at Zero Gravity Athletics.
The cheer roster includes juniors Halle Sanders, Saylor Parker, Maddie McCann-Vilchez and Zyla Caines; sophomores Kellan Rewis and Mia Geno; and freshman Hudson Lansing-Berg, Harper Lansing-Berg, Stella Moak, Leila McLanahan, Alexis Reiniche, Camille Wicks and Danica Daniel.
Sideline coach Ashley Pritchett provided support during the fall season, and the program brought in several alumni cheerleaders and Barbara Britt to assist during competition season.
The team’s championship run concludes a season that began with tryouts in May, summer training camps at Mississippi State and Troy, and included capturing the FHSAA State title two weeks before nationals.
