The Baldwin competitive cheer team placed second overall at the WPIAL championships on Saturday at Chartiers Valley High School. 

The Highlanders lost by .3 points to Hempfield, but earned a spot in the statewide competition. 

Senior Grace Iaquinta is proud of her team’s performance.

“Everyone gave their all. If we had one single mistake, our placement would’ve been very different,” she said. 

Junior Leah Moeller agreed, and she felt as if the audience did as well. 

“We hit our routine and the whole crowd was saying our cheers with us,” she said. 

One of the team’s main strengths is that no matter what is going on outside of cheer, they are able to come into a practice or competition with a good mindset, Iaquinta said. 

For states, the team is planning to practice their tumbling and to make sure they stay sharp, Moeller said. 

States will take place on Jan. 26-27 in Hershey. This will extend the team’s long standing participation at the state competition. 

Meanwhile, the team earlier had qualified for nationals, which will be at Disney in February.