State cheerleading championships begin on Friday

The Georgia High School Association state cheerleading championships begin this morning at the Columbus Civic Center.

Four local teams will be competing to win a state championship.

Northside, Columbus and Harris County will compete in Class AAAAA, while Brookstone will compete for a title among Class A private schools.

There will be seven championships decided Saturday. The region or sectional champions received a bye into Saturday's finals, while other teams will compete Friday to try and qualify for the finals.

Brookstone, which won a sectional title at the Lumpkin Center last Saturday, will be looking for its second state title. The Cougars won in 1996 and came in second last year.

Allison McGregor is in her 12th season as a coach at Brookstone.

"The only thing my girls need to do to win it all this year at state is to execute the skills they have and allow their talent to shine," she said.

Northside also is looking for its first state championship.

The Lady Patriots finished third in 2011 and fourth in 2010.

Jessica Smart is in her eighth season at Northside, which won the region title at Worth County in Sylvester on Saturday.

"Our girls have got to maintain confidence and believe that they can nail a routine," Smart said.

"The skills are there, but execution is key. It's our job as coaches to help build that confidence by encouraging our team day in and day out. We know our girls can make it happen."

Columbus will be looking for its third title. The Blue Devils won in 2008 and 2010. Harris County is looking for its second. The Tigers won in 2006.

Columbus and Harris County will both compete in the afternoon session today, which starts at 3 p.m.

The Class AAAAA and Class A-private finals will be decided Saturday afternoon in the 3 p.m. session.

Notes: The first sessions each day begin at 9 a.m. Tickets are $10.

Kevin Price, Follow Kevin on Twitter@lesports

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 11:07 PM with the headline "State cheerleading championships begin on Friday ."