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Greencastle, North Putnam walk away with titles at Putnam County Cheerleading Contest
BAINBRIDGE — For the second year in a row, North Putnam hosted the Putnam County Cheerleading Contest Saturday night, bringing in six schools to compete across four different divisions.
Notably, half the field was made up of Putnam County schools as the host Cougars, Greencastle and Cloverdale all had squads compete in the event, the most county schools to take part in the event since the 2019 edition of the contest.
Two of the three schools won titles on the night as North Putnam won the School Song division while Greencastle claimed the Spirit Award.
“We were glad to see more schools compete in the division,” North Putnam cheer coach Carrie Hook said. “It was one of the two largest divisions and we like to see others join the division and compete with us.”
“When we were on our way here, we talked about the Spirit Award and wanted to bring that award home so bad,” Greencastle cheer coach Renee Marsteller noted. “We’re so thrilled with the large number of parents and fans that came up, cheered with us and can’t thank them enough.
“They contributed to us bringing home that trophy.”
Greencastle was making its first appearance since the 2019 competition with Marsteller pleased by not only the results on the night but of the interest in getting back into the competition.
“It went really well and I’m excited for our team,” Marsteller said. “We haven’t competed in five years, so to be back and competing is an honor.
“We are excited because we have nine freshmen and seven seniors this year. We haven’t had that many in either class before. We’re a new team to a point with 21 girls total, 14 who competed tonight, and we’re looking forward to our season.”
Tri-West won in two separate divisions, including Middle School and Small Varsity, while Decatur Central won the large Varsity Division.
Bruin senior Kallie McIntosh won the Outstanding Senior Cheerleader award over teammate Jaylen Roadruck by .5 points 283.5-283. Greencastle’s Mylie Miller was third overall (274) with teammates Donna Wait fifth (265.5) and Alicia Hernandez eighth (249). North Putnam’s Averi Brewer finished sixth (259).
Cloverdale finishes as runner-up in the small varsity division and third in the school song division while Greencastle finished as runner-up in the large school division.
In addition to the competitive cheer, Five Star Athletics of Plainfield had several age divisions perform early in the event while more than $300 was raised for the Putnam County Humane Society through donations.
“We liked partnering with (North Putnam athletic director Bart Jochim) and Greencastle was under a lot of construction,” Putnam County Cheerleading Contest co-organizer Lindsay Roberts said. “Last year worked really well and we wanted to come back and do it as everyone here was great to work with.
“We were missing a few schools but we also got a some new schools to come in. We also had a big crowd and entertainment from Five Star Athletics and their families. It was a bigger crowd than last year for sure.”
“It was an awesome opportunity to be able to do this in our home gym,” Hook added about hosting the event again. “We’re thankful that those in charge continue to host the event, even if we don’t do it with the fair.”
Roberts added seeing more of the county schools, as well as new contestants like Owen Valley, was an encouraging sign for the contest going forward.
“During COVID, it was a struggle to get teams to come out,” Roberts said. “It’s nice we had three of the four county schools out this year.
“We added the school song category last and had more schools participate in it this year. We’re excited and hoping next year will be even bigger and better.”
