‘Talor’ Made Championship

For Talor Mecklenburg, it was just a random Tuesday in September.

She was sitting in her fourth hour class at Kingfi sher High School, no doubt contemplating what basketball practice would consist of later that day and how much homework she’d have that night.

Then, out of the blue, Talor was approached by senior Jaelin Cortes.

Little did Talor know at the time that the question she was about to be asked would make her a state champion by the end of the month.

•••

Kingfisher High School didn’t come by its state championship cheer routine by accident.

The routine was quite literally tailored in early June to the individual and collective skills of the 20 cheerleaders set to take part in the competitive cheer season.

For weeks and even months those cheerleaders worked six days a week, several hours a day, to perfect the routine.

And then, less than two weeks before the Class 4A regional was set to take place, a major wrench was thrown in the production.

“We had an athlete let me know they were moving out of Kingfisher Public Schools,” coach Carma Reagan said.

“That left us with 19 girls.”

It might be a minor change in quantity of performers, but it meant a potential major overhaul in the performance itself.

“We had a routine, formations, stunts and pyramids for 20 girls,” Reagan pointed out.

So she went to work.

On Monday, Sept. 4 - just 12 days before the regional - Reagan reached out to the coach who helped choreograph the KHS routine.

“We re-worked the entire routine,” Reagan said.

That meant making changes - some of them major - to a routine the ladies had worked dozens upon dozens of times in the previous 12-plus weeks.

“For a minute, it was very stressful for all of us,” admitted senior Libbie Barnett. “But I had no doubt that we would be able to come through with a good routine.”

Despite coming up with those changes, Reagan didn’t want to go that route.

“That was Plan B,” she said.

“Plan A was to find someone to take the spot of the athlete who left. Someone who would give us the best chance to be successful and use the routine we learned in June.”

Reagan already had that someone in mind.

It was Talor Mecklenburg.

•••

When she was younger, Talor had an affinity for tumbling.

“When I was in fifth or sixth grade, I took so many tumbling lessons with Lori Burns,” said Talor.

When she hit junior high, that turned into being a cheerleader.

She was on the junior high cheerleading team for two years and on stunts she could either work as a flyer or back spot.

As she grew older, her interests pulled her away from cheer.

“Over the years, I started to grow out of cheer,” she said. “I had no desire to be a cheerleader since middle school, but I just loved the tumbling part.”

Athletically, Talor concentrated on basketball and track, with one exception.

Now in her junior year, that was expected to remain the same.

That was until that fourth hour class on Tuesday, Sept. 5 - just 11 days before the regional.

•••

The exception on Talor’s athletics resume was helping out the KHS cheer team with its Game Day routine during her freshman year.

Game Day differs from competitive cheer in its elements and teams often use “outsiders” to aid in the performance.

Talor did just that and Reagan remembered her efforts.

“I knew she had cheered before and she had done Game Day with us a couple years ago,” Reagan said. “She had a tuck, running tumbling, good jumps and a good work ethic.

“That was the perfect combination to make us better than we already were.”

So Reagan reached out to a couple of the girls already on the squad she knew were friends with Talor. Cortes was one of them.

“It just so happened Jaelin was in class with Talor,” Reagan said. “She just asked her right then and there.”

Talor remembers it clearly.

“She told me that the team needed a girl to fill the spot and that if I wanted to, I could fill it,” Talor said.

But that was another big question.

Did she want to? “When they asked me, I knew I did not want to give them an answer right then and there,” Talor said.

Before coming to the decision on her own, Talor needed to discuss the scenario with her basketball coach, Taylor Young, and her parents, Kyle and Melissa Mecklenburg.

Taking part in cheer over - potentially - the next three weeks would tack on work on top of the basketball practices.

Young gave her blessing. That night, Talor had a discussion with her parents “We talked to her about taking it one day at a time and to just stay focused on things she had control over,” Kyle said.

Talor also held an internal discussion.

She remembered the difficulties she had as a freshman.

“It was very hard for me to go from basketball practice to cheer and do schoolwork every single day,” she said. “And I didn’t know if I could handle that again.”

In the end, she made the decision that shaped the history of the KHS cheer squad.

“I wanted to help because I knew they needed someone to fill the spot or they would have to rearrange their entire routine and they were only a week away from regionals,” Talor said.

In the discussion with her parents, it was understood what her decision meant to so many others.

“She understood how much this meant to the cheer team and especially the seniors,” Kyle said.

“So she wanted to help out if she could.”

So on Wednesday, Sept. 6 - just 10 days before the regional - Talor stepped into the cheer facility to learn a routine that her new teammates had been diligently working on for nearly 100 days.

There were still questions to be answered.

Could she learn the routine in time?

If someone asked me to step in this late in the game, I would think they’re insane,” Barnett said.

“I would be stressed out thinking I would mess up something that would hurt the team’s outcome.”

Talor was confident in the learning part.

“For me, learning the routine was not too difficult,” she said. “We went over it so many times that it was basically engraved in my brain.”

But the next question: Could she perform it?

Again, Talor hadn’t tumbled since middle school.

“The first day of practice I threw a back tuck and stuck it perfectly,” Talor said. “I was so shocked and so were the girls.”

Then came the work as Talor had just over a week before it would be time to perform at the regional.

There was no fear in the ability to prepare.

“Carma and Lori have worked with Talor over the years and she has grown to respect both of them tremendously,” Kyle said.

“So we knew she was going to get the coaching and attention she needed to be prepared.”

That didn’t mean fear - or at least nerves - didn’t exist.

“We knew there was going to be a lot of pressure on Talor to do well with very limited practice,” her dad continued. “Cheer competition is very unforgiving. You can be perfect in practice, but you get one shot to be perfect during the competition.

“Talor knew how long and hard the rest of the team had been preparing for this competition and she did not want to be the cause of a mistake.”

Firstly, she fit right in. “She learned quickly, did whatever we asked and had the best attitude,” Reagan said. “She is social and she fit right in like she’d been there all summer.”

The routine designed for KHS was already difficult in nature due to the team’s skills.

As it turned out, Talor’s abilities allowed them to make it even harder.

“She added tumbling components into the routine that we didn’t have before,” Barnett noted.

More specifically, said Reagan: “She actually added a tuck to the ones we already had installed and we added her running pass with the four we already had.”

The greater degree of difficulty meant the greater chance of higher scores… and also some allowance for error.

That allowance paid off at the regional. Kingfisher had drops in two of the four elite stunts.

Still, KHS won the regional by more than 11 points.

It was back to work, this time for a full week of practice leading into the state competition at Union High School in Tulsa.

Talor nailed her tuck. Her jumps. Her tumbling pass.

“If she was feeling the pressure, you couldn’t tell,” Reagan said.

The team as a whole put on a two-minute performance that was nearly flawless.

Then came the waiting as other contenders performed. They, too, were nearly perfect.

Finally, more than an hour after they put on the routine of their lives, the Class 4A state champion was announced.

“When I heard the word ‘Kingfisher,” I couldn’t believe it,” Talor said. “I was so proud of the team and was so excited. I knew that all of the cramming in motions, learning words, all of the stressing about doing good was all worth it.”

•••

Maybe Kingfisher would have won with 19 athletes.

Maybe it wouldn’t have. History says, with Talor Mecklenburg, KHS won its fourth-ever cheer title and first since 2008.

“There’s no telling what the outcome could have been because it’s so subjective,” Barnett said. “She definitely made the routine stronger.

“I’m so thankful she was brave enough to step up and help us out when we were in need. Without her, we would have had to completely change the ending of the routine and have different formations throughout. I know the other seniors are so thankful as well because we know this wasn’t an easy decision to make.”

It’s one her parents were proud to see unfold.

“Prior to this opportunity, I didn’t think we would ever see Talor in a KHS cheer uniform again,” Kyle said. “So to get this chance for her to step up and be a part of this team was awesome. Regardless of the outcome, we were going to be proud of her for stepping up to the challenge.

“But to have the outcome it did? That is incredible and something she will remember for a lifetime.”

As she screamed with and hugged her teammates, Talor realized she was a state champion.

However, there was another train of thought that tried to creep in.

“I will say, a part of me feels like I didn’t deserve the title,” she said. “Because these girls have been working so hard since June.”

Reagan said that part of Talor Mecklenburg couldn’t be more wrong.

“She will forever be a part of the 2023 4A state championship cheer team,” Reagan said. “She 100% deserves the title just like everyone else. I know the girls would all agree!”

A state championship became a reality because Talor Mecklenburg allowed her desire to help out her friends overcome any fear of potential failures.

“We are so grateful she gave up three weeks and practiced with us every day,” Reagan said. “I hope she is glad she did it and I hope it was an experience she will never forget.”

The memories won’t just be from the present... but the past as well.

The days of practicing in the cheer facility and then perfroming at the regional and state competitions didn’t just earn Talor a state championship.

She was able to assist her fellow students...and return to doing something she loved in middle school.

“I was so happy I could help out the cheerleaders for just a little bit,” she said. “And bring back those memories.”