A win's a win and when it leads to a national competition, it's hard not to take it.

The Gainesville Haymarket Youth Cheer Competition squad, better known as the competitive cheer team of the Gainesville Grizzlies organization, earned a trip to Las Vegas for a national title event by winning their first-ever competition at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Maryland on Jan. 8.

One advantage for the Grizzlies is that the team basically faced itself in their division, which was for youth recreational teams that work in small gymnasiums or, in the Grizzlies' case, without even a full gym. The Grizzlies had a set score they had to eclipse in order to advance as determined by judges.

Members of the 12-unit squad are between 5th and 8th grade and made up entirely of girls from the western part of Prince William County, including those who attending Mountain View, Victory Lakes, Bull Run, Gainesville and Marsteller elementary and middle schools.

Coach Malissa Christian said one of the reasons she wanted to start a competition cheerleading squad was because of the perception she said she saw in older kids that basically said that, after elementary school, being a Gainesville Grizzlies cheerleader "really wasn't cool."

At the same time, only 20-22 girls "can ever make a middle school squad," said Christian, meaning that some girls that wanted to compete in cheerleading would not necessarily have an outlet to do so.

"These girls wanted something more than being on the sides and to feel like they're as good as any other cheerleading in middle school or high school. They just don't wear their school colors, they wear their town colors," said Christian.

So the Grizzlies' board "let me run with it," said the eighth-year coach, and the competition team started out by practicing where they could, including living rooms and basements.

Christian said she saw the Gainesville Middle School cheer team's routine and with the help of Brentsville District High School graduate Ashley Uleman, choreographed a routine for the Grizzlies based on that one, but more cut down.

There is a limited amount of stunts and halves teams in the Grizzlies level of competition can perform, so Christian divided stunts among the 12 members. Jordann Auth, Madelyn Christin, Lexi Kocher, and Taylor Morris performed roundoffs; Morgan Clay, Aubrey Dosky, Melissa Loy, Emily Kelly and Casey Neylon did cartwheels and Mackenzie Hollingsworth and MCKenzie Johnson performed as show presenters.

Meanwhile, the younger Christian, Kocher and Neylon were all flyers while everyone else served as side and back bases.

Their 2:15 routine included a 45-second cheer and 90-second dance, where they showcased their cartwheels, roundoffs and forward rolls. Judges did not tell Christian what score they needed to reach ahead of time, she said, but whatever it was that they earned, it ended up being plenty.

"Yes, there were tears. The girls surprised me, they brought it, and they got the scores that they needed" to be champions, said Christian.

As an added bonus, her daughter even earned the 1st Place Championship designation in the individual competition, which qualifies her to compete solo in Las Vegas too. Another Brentsville cheerleader, junior Virginia Mihalick, helped out Christian with her routine.

Prior to the May 14 youth championship meet, the coach Christian said the Grizzlies are fundraising and have scheduled a second event in Columbus, Ohio.

"My expectation is that the girls will be just as proud of themselves in May as they were January 8th and will show all of the different states what little-Gainvesville, Virginia has," she said.