Lemont Cheerleading Captures Second Straight IHSA State Title

LEMONT, IL — Lemont High School’s cheerleading team has enjoyed more success than any program in the history of the IHSA State Series, but no Lemont team has posted a more dramatic finish than head coach Bree Grady-Simpson’s team did this year, LHS shared in a news release.

After narrowly advancing from the preliminary round, Lemont rebounded with a spectacular effort in the final round to win the 2025 IHSA Medium Division Cheerleading State Finals, which were contested at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington on Feb. 7-8. Lemont won its second straight state crown, and its state record eighth title overall, the school said.

Lemont pushed its state record streak of top five state finals finishes to 20 seasons, and improved upon its own state record by earning its 16th state trophy.

Lemont made it into the final round after placing 10th in the preliminary round with a score of 89.79; the top ten teams in the first round move on to the second day of competition. It was a much different story in the final round, as Lemont rocketed to the top of the leaderboard with a score of 97.50 to edge runner-up Providence Catholic (97.22) and outdistance third-place Grayslake Central (93.54), LHS said.

Grady-Simpson’s team includes seniors Claire Auw, Jordan Cryer, Mia Federovich, Grace Markun, Ella Mierzwa, Kelsey Schmidt, Molly Wallace and Ashley Wrublik; juniors Samantha DuVall, Ella Phelan, Morgan Sadelski and Victoria Swanstrom; sophomores Hailey Borner, Emma Federovich, Allyson Fluder, Natalie Oprondek, Alexa Verhoeven and Melanie Wallace; and freshmen Emma Schrimpl and Sabrina Tavolino.

Lemont (94.70) earned its 20th straight IHSA State Finals berth by placing as the runner-up at the IHSA Joliet West Sectional on Feb. 1, the school said. Lemont was also the South Suburban Conference-Blue Division runner-up earlier this season.

Lemont’s cheerleading squad is one of only four athletic programs in school history to win an IHSA team state championship, having previously done so in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2024, the school said. Lemont finished as the state runner-up in 2007, 2008, 2013, 2016, 2021 and 2023, and brought home third-place trophies in 2006 and 2012.

Lemont has won eight IHSA Sectional titles (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024) and seven SSC Blue crowns (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024).

The most decorated cheerleading program in state history, Lemont is joined by Conant, Lockport, Oak Forest and Sandburg as the only programs to advance to the IHSA State Finals each year since the IHSA State Series began in 2006, the school said.

LHS said the program's 16 state trophies are the most in the history of the IHSA State Series for cheerleading. With no worse than a fifth-place finish in any of its state finals appearances, Lemont is the only cheerleading program in the state to have finished among the state’s top ten each year since 2006.