WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — The 2022 state champions were crowned for competitive cheer and for the Foundation Academy, they made school history. The team won gold in Gainesville, its first team state title in school history.

What You Need To Know

  • Foundation Academy cheer team won its first state title, the first state title in school history

  • The team was led by senior co-captain McKenna Kime

  • The school was runners-up the last two years

They were led by senior co-captain McKenna Kime — and being on the team since seventh grade, she has experienced the challenge it takes to win a state championship.

“We have gotten state runners-up the past two years, so going into it we were very eager and excited to kind of work our way up and get to the next level, so it is very definitely very rewarding,” said Kime. “It’s not only a big deal for our specific cheerleading team, but for the school in general.  It feels pretty crazy.”

Third year coach Rachel Carey understands what Kime brings to the team.

“She is very talented but you won’t know based on her demeanor," Carey said. "She just goes out and performs and does what she need to do.

"She is very different than most captains that I have had in the past, she is more of an observant captain. She brings a sense of calm to the team that is unlike most teenage girls.”

After winning the state title, Kime said it was pretty cool to make school history.

“Usually the cheer team doesn’t get a ton of rep, it is just really cool to be able to share this with the cheerleaders and to be able to have people at school to say, 'Oh that is what you do,'” she said.

That the team became state champions makes it more rewarding because of the ups and downs during the season.

“We didn’t think we did that well in the beginning competitions of the season,” said Kime.

“It’s been a roller coaster compared to most teams," Carey said. "The last two years I have had teams that had steadily built in confidence — this year it was up and down with performances and it wasn’t until the week before states at regionals that you really saw them hit their stride and show their true potential on the floor."

Despite performing at their best at the right time of the year, they say there was still pressure going into the state competition.

“There were teams that we knew we had to do our absolute best if we wanted to win, so the just the practices leading up to it we tried to focus on consistency that we could go out there and put a routine that was a winning routine, but also our very best,” said Kime. “Coming out of states as champions, and as the first team to win states at our school, I am so proud of the team and all that we have accomplished.”