Two Kentwood High School cheerleading teams placed in the top 10 at the Universal Cheerleading Association National High School Cheerleading Championships at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. on Feb. 7 and 8.

The event is the premier high school cheerleading competition in the country with over 300 teams competing in 10 varsity divisions. In order to compete at this event teams had to qualify at regional competitions throughout the country.

Saturday morning, Kentwood Silver, competing in the small coed division, advanced out of the semifinals in third place. The team finished second in the finals on Saturday evening, just behind Sparkman High School of Alabama, a nine-time national championship team.

This is the first year Kentwood has competed in a coed division. Last year, Kentwood Silver placed sixth at the NHSCC in the medium varsity division. Kentwood Silver’s second place performance will be featured on ESPN later this spring.

Kentwood Black, competing in the super varsity division, performed in their preliminary round Saturday morning and advanced to the semifinals Sunday morning. After a strong performance in the semifinals, Black finished 10th in the finals on Sunday evening, bringing home a second trophy for Kentwood, one of only three high schools in the nation to place two varsity teams in the top 10 of their divisions.

Earlier this year Kentwood Silver won the state title in the small coed division at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association state championships held in Everett with the highest score of all teams in all division. Kentwood Black had the highest score of any super large varsity team at the WIAA state competition, finishing second in the combined large and super large division. Kentwood Green, who did not attend the national competition, won the state title at WIAA in the varsity nontumbling division.

All three Kentwood cheer teams are coached by Kim Kawachi and Tyler Janes.