Lincoln-Way East Captures Cheerleading State Championship

FRANKFORT, IL — Lincoln-Way East's competitive cheerleading squad captured a state championship win in the large team IHSA 2023 state finals this weekend.

The state final competition was held at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. The three teams from the Lincoln-Way high schools all placed in the top five in the state.

According to IHSA, Lincoln-Way East had a score of 98.13 in the large team division, beating out second-place Lincoln-Way West (score of 95.43). Lockport Township (94.63), Sandburg (94.37), and Lincoln-Way Central (91.98) rounded out the top five teams in the state.

"After graduating 14 seniors from our 2022 team and knowing there was going to be a very talented field to compete against this year, we knew we were going to have to work exceptionally hard to get back on top of the podium," Head coach Jayson Polad said. "This team gave everything they had, and it paid off in a big way."

He added 15 of the cheerleaders had never been on the state floor before, but that "the whole team looked right at home."

"Like they were just a bunch of kids of having a great time with each other doing what they love with the people they love. I could not be prouder," Polad said.

This is the seventh state championship win for the cheerleading program at Lincoln-Way East in recent years. The school has also been state champions in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021.