Thomas Jefferson High School's competitive cheer team gets special send-off to national championships

JEFFERSON HILLS, Pa. (KDKA) -- Cheerleaders from Thomas Jefferson High School are beginning their journey to nationals.

The state championship winning squad is off to Florida and a special send-off was held on Wednesday to cheer the girls on. 

"Those are the people they want to see you do good," said senior Natalie Borneman. "They want to see you win. They're here to support you and everyone I love is out there."

The Jaguars won the 3A PIAA state title last week, something they've been working towards the past few years.

"I think there's a lot of mixed emotions," said head coach Kim Stadelman. "There was a lot of excitement. There was a lot of tears. It's a young team."

"I was literally like, crying so much I couldn't breathe," said senior Celena Cook. "I was just so, so, so, so, happy."

"I was just in shock," Borneman said. "Everyone was crying and was so in shock. I didn't know what to do. The whole day I was just so nervous. Obviously, I get nervous every time but that day was just so different like I really felt it." 

The hard work has paid off and now these state champions are getting ready to compete in nationals with the goal of coming out on top.

"I'm expecting everyone to be excited because we just came off of a big win, but I hope everyone's still ready to work hard and I know they are and I just hope we hit every day and we'll see what happens," Borneman said.

 "It's just that 2 and a half minutes showing up and being the best you can be and hoping to walk off that mat feeling good about what you put on it," Stadelman said.

The team will leave for Florida on Friday and will be hopefully be competing until Monday when the finals take place.