Photo Provided The Bridgeport cheerleading team performs one of their cheer routines at an assembly. The team won first place at the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference competition.

BRIDGEPORT — The cheerleaders at Bridgeport High won top honors at the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference match Feb. 1 and made Bulldogs history with their first win at that level.

Bridgeport’s eight cheerleaders competed against cheer teams from six other schools across the Ohio Valley and won the Small School Non-Tumbling Division at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling. The Bridgeport team won by 15 points.

The district held an assembly Feb. 4 to celebrate Senior Abbie Bennett Rush, juniors Ariel Bennett Rush, Chloe Cuiksa, Liberty Chambers and Taelor Bowers, sophomore Jaicee Bradac, and freshmen Olivia Salm and Isabella Hilliard.

High School Principal Jack Fisher said this is a change for the cheerleaders, who are normally raising spirits for others.

“We finally get to cheer and congratulate them,” he said.

Fisher and High School Cheer Coach Kaylynn Yates thanked the team in front of cheering students in the stands. The cheerleaders then performed one of their routines for the crowd.

Yates said the cheerleaders were overjoyed by the decisive victory.

“They just cheered with excitement and cried,” she said.

“This is the first time that they’ve won OVAC ever,” she said, adding the win came after some very close prior competitions at the state level.

The cheerleaders give their all as the sport with the longest season, from June through January. Yates is proud of the months of practice they put in.

“We started in June and continued until February,” she said. Yates added they can always be counted on to work as a team and push each other to be the best they can be.

This marks Yates’ second year as head cheer coach. She has had top-quality cheerleaders to work with and said they go into every competition knowing they will face the best and determined to earn victory for the blue and black.

“I try to just remind them that they’re a team and to always work together and to let them know they’re worth it and how good they truly are. I try to be positive,” she said.

“They all bring something special to the team,” she said. “They show a lot of school spirit.”

Many of the eight cheerleaders will be returning to the field next school year. Yates and Fisher look forward to more achievements from them.

Fisher said the cheerleaders are always a high point during games as they cheer on the other athletes.

“We’re proud of our girls,” he said. “Tons of hours of work in. Coach Yates does an amazing job, puts in so much time and effort and dedication. We’re truly proud of them all.”

Prior to the assembly, senior Abbie Bennett Rush said this win was a great cap to her final year in high school, and the team has formed some tight-knit friendships.

“I was super-excited. That’s what we worked all season for,” she said. “We get along like a family. We fight like a family, we laugh like a family, we’re one big family.