Oak Harbor High School cheerleaders continued to display their presence as a national power, earning fifth place recently in the American School Spirit Award contest.

The Wildcats gained their recognition after sending in a portfolio of events, letters of recommendation and squad GPA of 3.1.

OHHS finished only behind schools from Alabama, Florida, Iowa and New York.

Judges rewarded a high finish for Oak Harbor because of its hard work — especially this fall.

After it was announced there would be no OHHS parent booster club for the fall sports season, the Wildcat cheerleaders stepped in. They recruited sponsors, created a cover page and gathered pictures to help put together a booster program. 

They were also recognized for their usual duties, which includes posting the latest news on all of Oak Harbor’s sports teams in the sports showcase and putting up signs to promote the week’s events. 

Judges showed continued admiration to Oak Harbor because there is no dance or drill team, resulting in the cheerleaders preparing all halftime routines, in addition to cheering at basketball, volleyball, soccer and wrestling events.

The Wildcats cheer for participants in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, the Challenge Series Gravity Racing for Kids with Special Needs and local business grand openings.  Other community events they helped with this year included collecting food for the Help House and raising money to build a new stadium by hosting a “Dunk a Cheerleader” dunk tank.

The varsity co-ed roster for fall sports was Heather Henderson, Jennifer Sansom, Kelsey Lambert, Amanda Wadinski, Jessica Gilbert, BreAnna Stanek, Roxy Oavario, Lauren Acton, Emmie Iacono, Tiffany Bourlet, Jordan Carlson, Samantha Culver, Hannah Berry, Tasha Dudley, Natalie Lumbo, Andrew Shumate, Denon Lammateo, CJ Wong, Daniel Vandiver.

The Wildcats have seven new participants added to the winter varsity roster, including Ashley Parish, Marissa Lopez, James Blunk, Cash Parker, John Umayam, Alanna Bower, and Janelle Ruefa.