The following was submitted to us here at The Reporter:

This year was the first Washington All-State Cheer Team hosted by the Washington State Cheerleading Coaches Association at Mt. Si High School.

The All-State Cheerleading program has been designed to showcase the talent that is within the state of Washington and award individuals for their commitment, work ethic and talent.

Three athletes from Kentwood High School were selected. The three juniors Alexia Thomas, Payton Kalka and Connor Troutner showcased their skills in front of a live audience and judges to make the team.

There was a two-part process that all of the candidates had to excel in. There was a tryout section to get accepted to compete and if accepted, a performance.

In order to tryout, all candidates had to submit a tryout video showcasing their skills in jumps, cheer, tumbling and dance. In addition to the tryout video, they also had to demonstrate academic success as well a character references from their coaches.

After submitting their tryout packets, candidates were selected to perform their cheer skills and answer a short interview question live in front of an audience to be judged.

At the end of the night, the top 25 scores out of the 45 candidates were selected for the All-State Team honors.

Troutner was 1 of 2 males that made the All-State team.

Kalka displayed a great individual performance. Kentwood’s captain scored the second highest score in the individual competition.

Thomas demonstrated a powerful performance in her individual performance by maxing out on all of the judged skills.

The Kentwood Co-Captain earned the highest score in the competition representing the WSCCA’s first ever Washington Individual State Champion.