Cashion overcomes obstacles to win state

Cashion was tired.

Cashion was hurting. But Cashion was also hungry.

And now, Cashion is a state champion.

The 2023 Class 2A competitive cheerleading title banner now resides in Kingfisher County after Cashion bested a group of seven other teams at the OSSAA state championships at the UMAC in Tulsa.

Judges gave Cashion a score of 248.0, topping the likes of runner-up Okemah (244.8) and two-time defending state champion Crescent (240.4).

For Cashion, Saturday was the pinnacle of a long journey, one that’s seen the team get as close as tied for runner-up, but not yet at the mountaintop.

Until this year. “I truly can’t even explain the feeling I had when I heard Cashion High School called out as 2A state champions,” said Casi Williams, who coaches the team alongside Amber Hobgood.

For Williams and many other in Cashion colors, the announcement brought about a mixture of excitement, tears, pride and even shock.

“Not shock because I didn’t think it was possible,” Williams said. “But more like, ‘Wow! This really just happened!’” Of course the coaches knew it was possible. They also knew nothing would come easy.

Take the fact that nine of Cashion’s cheerleaders also play softball and endure a schedule of several games packed into a few short weeks.

“They would play softball, come home late and then we’d have 6:15 practices in the morning,” Hobgood said.

Among those pulling double-duty was Williams’ daughter, Reese.

“We are at softball games three and four nights a week,” said Williams, noting the early-morning practices would ensure the full team could make it.

“We also do some evening and weekend practices. And don’t forget the football games we cheer at every Friday,” Williams said.

“We will literally practice anytime we can when it gets crunch time.”

And they did, especially in the weeks leading up to the regional and state competitions.

“We pushed them so hard these last few weeks,” Hobgood added. “I know they were tired, but it didn’t show. We had several girls battling injuries, including one in a boot last week.

“This was definitely our year.”

Cashion announced its arrival as a definite contender by not only winning its regional the week before, but by having the highest score of the two regionals combined.

Of course, that meant nothing if they couldn’t follow it up with another near-perfect routine at state.

“Our girls were ready to finish the fight and they brought it,” Hobgood said. “We had a couple of mistakes, but they looked so good and you could tell they wanted it.”

The mistakes weren’t major.

“We hit all our stunts and knew we did our best,” said Williams.

The coaches felt good about the routine and knew it was up to the judges.

“As a coach for them to put one of their best performances on the state mat for the last time…there’s really nothing else you could ask for,” Hobgood added.

From the regional mat to the warm-up room, Cashion knew Okemah would be a serious contender for the crown.

Before they announced the top-four, there was some other hardware to be dispersed…the academic state title.

It was Cashion.

“Right after we performed, we found out the girls won academic state champs, so Casi and I decided we weren’t going to tell the girls and let them be genuinely surprised,” Hobgood said.

“So we were still trying to process that once we got down on the floor and got a picture of that and sat back down.”

Then came the announcements.

Fourth place went to Haworth. Third to Crescent.

Then came runner-up… “Okemah.”

“Once they announced Okemah as state runner-up, I think all the girls knew their name was about to be called as state champions!” Hobgood said.

And it was.

The championship was the first in cheer for Cashion.

It held extra-special meaning for both Williams and Hobgood as both have daughters on the team.

Reese Williams is a senior and Abby Hobgood a junior.

“Having my daughter on the mat definitely made this win so much more sweeter and special,” Williams said. “She’s been wanting and working for this for all four years of high school.”

Hobgood had much the same sentiment.

“Seeing my daughter get excited about this state championship was priceless,” Hobgood said. “My eyes might have got a little sweaty when she found me on the floor after getting her medal.

“I’m not sure how we could ever top this moment.”

It was a moment brought about by weeks…if not months…of work and preparation.

“We start working on it in the summer, however with everyone’s crazy schedules such as camps, vacations and other school activities that go on in the summer, it’s hard to get a lot of practices in,” Williams said.

The practices truly amped up in August. The team peaked in late September when it mattered the most.

And it made history in the process.

“It’s an awesome feeling making history and winning Cashion’s first competitive cheer state championship and an even better feeling that I got to do it with my daughter on the squad,” Williams said.

It’s a feeling that going to take some getting used to for Hobgood: “It still doesn’t seem real.”