UPDATED: Barnegat Cheerleaders Hold Onto 3rd in Nation Title

The Barnegat High School varsity cheerleading team was welcomed with cheers, streamers and signs when their bus pulled into the school parking lot in the early hours of Tuesday morning – a fitting homecoming party for a group of girls who had just succeeded in securing yet another third-in-the-nation placement at the country's largest cheerleading championships.

For the third year in a row, the team placed third in the U.S. in their division at the National High School Cheerleading Championship in Orlando, Fla. this past weekend.

See the video of their final performance here.

The Bengal girls captured the third-place spot in the Large Varsity Division II category, besting about 30 of the top teams of their size from similarly sized schools around the country.

A total of 10,000 participants from 475 teams were at the competition, representing 33 states.

Coach Shannon Smith said she'd been ready to see the last year as a rebuilding year for her team. Smith, who has coached the squad since 2004, said the team had many new members, including four new flyers. But her girls stepped up, she said, and the routine they brought to nationals was the toughest they'd attempted yet.

Making the top three in their division was extra sweet this year, Smith said, because at the end, they didn't expect it. After a strong early showing that qualified the team for semi-finals and then finals, they had a final performance with a few noticeable mistakes, including two falls. 

"They were so upset when they came off the mat, because they didn't hit the routine," she said. "I told them, 'It's OK, just wait for the outcome.'" Wise words: Their strong execution of difficult moves meant that despite their mistakes, they still scored very high.

"They were counting down, and everyone said 'Oh my God, we're in the top 10,'" said Smith. "Then they get down to the top five. Then they call fifth place, and fourth place, and then everyone lost it and started crying."

Ultimately their overall score of 84 put them less than three points behind the first place team in their division.

"I'm just so proud of them," said Smith. "They've accomplished so much and come so far."

Barnegat Athletic Director John Germano credits the continued success of the team to the strong spirit and drive fostered by Smith, who built the squad into a competition team with year-round practices geared toward making Barnegat High School a top contender at the prestigious national competition at Disney World.

"She has built such a strong foundation, and the energy and time she puts into it – the children respond to that," Germano said. "They buy into it and they give it everything they've got. Everyone in the program, from the parents to the student athletes, to the coaching staff, they make a commitment to one another."

Ocean County had a strong showing at the Florida competition, with five teams making it to finals in their respective divisions.