WPIAL champion North Allegheny competitive spirit squad ‘not done yet’

By: John Grupp
Saturday, January 11, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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The North Allegheny competitive spirit team has a lot to cheer about.

Having already clinched a berth to the national championships, the Tigers won the WPIAL Class 3A Large Squad title for the first time in nine years Jan. 4 at Hempfield.

“We’re not done yet,” said senior Aly Corna, a team captain. “We’re going to keep working hard. This is literally just the beginning. I’m so excited to see where this season takes us.”

The 23-girl team posted a combined score of 89.9 to win the eight-team WPIAL Large Squad division and dethroned four-time defending champion Hempfield, which placed second with an 89.4.

South Fayette won the Class 3A Small Squad division and the overall WPIAL title with 92.5 points.

“The hard work these kids have put in has just been out of this world,” fourth-year NA coach Kaylee Kenz said. “It was absolutely incredible.”

Using the same skills they display at North Allegheny football games and other NA sporting events as sideline cheerleaders, the Tigers were nearly flawless at the WPIAL championships. They scored 27.9 in cheer, 35.7 in stunts and 27.3 overall — with only a one-point deduction for a minor stunt fall — as part of their two-and-a-half-minute routine.

They weren’t sure if it was enough to take down WPIAL power Hempfield, until they heard “North Allegheny” announced as champions. They joined the school’s 2016 WPIAL overall winner as the only champs in program history.

“It was something so special that all of our work was totally worth it,” Corna said. “It was so emotional.”

Said Kenz: “We didn’t go into the awards ceremony thinking, ‘We’re going to win this. This is it.’ It was a very big surprise, and we were really excited. We had no clue whether the judges liked our routine or hated our routine.”

The Tigers, who had placed fourth in the WPIAL last season, qualified for the PIAA championships Jan. 30-31 in Reading, where they will seek to improve on last year’s third-place finish.

They also have a trip to Disney World. The squad secured an automatic bid to the Universal Cheerleaders Association National Championships on Feb. 7-10 in Orlando, Fla., with a pair of top-three finishes at the UCA regionals Nov. 17 in Johnstown. The Super game-day routine placed second with a program-best score of 95 and the traditional routine was third. Last year, the Tigers placed sixth at nationals, the best finish in program history.

Corna, who began cheer at age 5, is joined by fellow seniors Kaitlyn Wheeler, Layla Loskoch, Morgan Ulmer and Kendall Graham.

“Our bond this year is insane,” Corna said. “We have such a special bond with each other. We are family and that makes our routine so much more special. … I’m so excited for states and nationals.”

North Allegheny has come a long way since Kenz, a Shaler graduate and former Oklahoma State and Duquesne cheerleader, arrived. The Tigers didn’t compete at WPIALs in 2021 during the pandemic and then, with low participation numbers, placed sixth in Small Squad and missed states in 2022, Kenz’s first season.

“We didn’t want that feeling to ever happen again,” said Corna, a four-year starter. “We got our goal.”

Three years later, in the same Hempfield gym, North Allegheny earned the WPIAL championship trophy.

“One of the moms looked at me and said, ‘Remember four years ago when we were here and we were crying because we didn’t make it to states?’ ” Kenz said. “What a change a few short years can make. That was just a really special feeling.”

Tags: North Allegheny