By Derrick Smith

Besides winning a state championship, one of the biggest honors to receive is being named to the All State team in your respective sports. Seniors Darcie Edmondson and Jayden Kennedy both recently received this honor as cheerleaders at Miami High School. 

“Being an All State cheerleader to me is a very special honor and symbolizes the dedication and hard work I’ve put in,” Jayden said. “Being able to be on the All State team with the best of the best cheerleaders in the state is a privilege.”

Darci echoed Kennedy’s sentiments.

“The day of All State tryouts was a big day for me,” she said. “All I’ve ever wanted is to be the best me I can possibly be at anything I do. On the day of All State tryouts, I had to throw two new skills that were outside of my comfort zone but I was more than capable of doing. So making All State was not only a huge accomplishment for me, it was the icing on the cake.”

While the two earned the same honor, they each made their own journey to reach it. Darci has been in cheer since she was four years old, while this is just the fourth year that Jayden has been in cheer. Both athletes have put in many hours of work and dedication to reach this point, but they both have a group of people that have helped them get here. 

“All of mine and Jayden’s teammates were very supportive of us and encouraging,” Darci said. “Every day Jayden and I would get to practice and we would ask the other one if scores had been posted or not and when the other girls walked in they were just as excited and curious as we were to hear if the results had been posted or not.”

Jayden agrees and says that the team is what helped them both achieve this honor.

“My team is my family,” Kennedy stated. “Without my team, I would not be where I am today. I love them with all my heart.”