Solo Nebraska Cheerleader Steals the Show at Cheer and Dance Championships

A lone cheerleader stepped onto the mat at the Nebraska State Cheer & Dance Championships in February. Clad in a blue, white and yellow Morrill (Nebraska) High School Lions uniform, hair slicked into a tight ponytail and brandishing a set of white pompoms, senior Katrina Kohel began her routine.

Kohel was performing solo, but she was not alone. Hundreds of cheerleaders from other schools attending the event clapped and shouted support as she executed her choreography of chants, jumps and sign-work. Kohel was met with a standing ovation as she concluded the performance.

“The crowd engagement wasn’t coordinated. That was spontaneously done by the youth and student-athletes that were there participating,” said Darin Boysen, executive director of the Nebraska Coaches Association (NCA). “I think that the most special part was that she was embraced by her fellow competitors. It says a lot about our youth today. They are willing to embrace each other.”

The three-day Nebraska State Cheer & Dance Championship sponsored by the NCA attracted more than 2,700 girls and 225 teams from across the state to compete and perform for a state title. Most of the competing teams varied in size from four to 20 or more athletes. Kohel, however, was the first cheerleader in the nearly two-decade-long history of the event to compete by herself, according to Boysen.

Kohel discovered that she would be the sole competitor on her squad just days before the competition when Morrill cheer coach April Ott called to convey the news. Ott suggested that the senior attend the event as a spectator instead of a performer. After speaking with her mother about the situation, Kohel’s mind was set.

“I want to go to state, and I will cheer by myself,” the steadfast Kohel told her coach, according to the Omaha World-Herald.

Boysen and his wife were driving to the championship on Wednesday before the February 16 event when Ott called him to explain the situation. The coach wanted to ensure that Kohel was eligible to compete alone. Boysen explained that Kohel would be able to perform but would face scoring disadvantages.

“We wanted to encourage her to still do it, but we told her that she might not have an opportunity to score as many points in areas of judging like spacing and stunting,” Boysen said. “We wanted to give her the best opportunity to still reach her goals and be able to compete. We didn’t want to place any additional hurdles in doing so.”

Despite news that a one-person team would not fill several minimum scoring requirements, the cheerleader and coach spent hours each day before the competition reworking the routine, which was originally choreographed for four people. Stunts were removed, spacing was scrapped and new sign-work demanded creativity.

Word of Kohel’s determination to finish out her season and cheer at state traveled quickly to cheerleaders at schools around the state. Kohel reported receiving a number of texts from other teams in western Nebraska praising her commitment and bravery to compete alone.

She felt confident until the first day of the competition when she watched the other teams’ routines, Kohel told Insider. But once she took the mat, muscle memory clicked into place and the crowd went wild.

“It’s almost overwhelming, the amount of support I got from all of them,” she said. “The whole arena was cheering me on. It wasn’t just one little section – it was the whole arena.”

Kohel scored eighth out of the 12 squads in her division, which was the highest the Lions had placed in the past three years. And the support didn’t stop there. Footage of her performance took the internet by storm. Major news outlets from around the globe praised Kohel’s courageous performance. She made several television appearances and was even contacted by a group requesting rights to turn her experience into a playwright or movie, according to Boysen.

“It’s refreshing that people wanted to celebrate a young person’s ability to say, ‘I will overcome. I will still reach my goals,’” Boysen said. “I just commend her on her dedication in overcoming this obstacle. Wanting to finish the season speaks volumes on her character, and that she has a lot of things to point in the right direction for her future.”

The state championship may have marked the end of Kohel’s four-year high school cheerleading career, but she has more opportunities for greatness ahead of her. In addition to playing basketball and volleyball, Kohel also competes in the high jump and 400 meters in track and field. Next year, she’s attending the University of Nebraska at Kearney to study nursing. She then plans to join the U.S. Air Force, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.

“I feel really proud of myself for knowing I can do it and not giving up,” Kohel said. “Just getting it done.”