Former Gaylord cheer captain, Alpenfest Queen helps Alma to NCA and STUNT championships

ALMA — Fayth Sanom left Gaylord last fall with a long list of accomplishments.

The class of 2023 GHS graduate was the captain of the Blue Devils cheer squad, a homecoming and Alpenfest Queen and, as she wrapped up her final year of high school in spring of 2023, a signed and soon-to-be member of a decorated Alma competitive cheer and STUNT program in the near future.

Over the last three weeks in April, both Alma and Sanom added to their lengthy list of accomplishments as the former Gaylord star was part of two National Championship victories, with the competitive cheer team winning its fourth Advanced All-Girl Division III on April 13 in Daytona Beach, Fl., just weeks before the STUNT team won its fourth straight Division III National Championship on Sunday, April 28 in St. Louis, Mo.

"Winning that first national championship was like nothing I had ever experienced," said Sanom. "In Daytona, there are hundreds of teams practicing at all hours of the day hoping and praying to come away with a national title. We worked endlessly and put our hearts and souls into the routine for months in preparation."

STUNT is a new, fast-growing women sport much like cheer that "removes the crowd-leading element and focuses on the technical and athletic components of cheer, including partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, group jumps and tumbling," according to the USA Cheer website. And, despite the similarities, the two sports have different qualifying parameters for teams bidding to win national championships.

COLUMN: Championships, new school records and more consistency; what I missed last week

Jones sisters feature: Gaylord softball stars Jayden and Aubrey Jones trying to soak in final season together

"In NCA (National Cheerleaders Association), you qualify to go to nationals in August at NCA Camp the beginning of the school year. NCA camp is like a big competition, and you can win a bid to nationals," said Sanom. "STUNT is different. Because it is a game aspect, everyone qualifies and each team is put into the bracket. It was a double-elimination tournament."

For Alma, a three-time defending champion in both cheer and STUNT, qualifying making an appearance in the national tournaments was no surprise. However, the final results were a bit overwhelming for a freshman like Sanom experiencing it for the first time; both Alma teams eventually cruised to fourth consecutive national championships in their divisions, taking first at the NCA DIII Nationals in Daytona Beach before culminating with a perfect 24-0 finish at the STUNT tournament in St. Louis, the first perfect tournament in STUNT history.

"The feeling on the sideline was insane. We danced, we laughed, but we also put some of the best routines of our season on the mat, and we couldn’t be prouder," said Sanom.

Sanom is an accomplished individual, but these accomplishments were a culmination of a dream Sanom had when she started her cheer career as a freshman in high school and, with the help of one of her former trainers, she made a reality.

"I had dreamed of competing on Alma’s cheer team ever since I started my career in cheer freshman year in high school. Michelle Coleman was an alumni from the Alma Cheer team and she was a great inspiration for me. She trained me to know what a good athlete, teammate, and woman should be which were all lessons she took away from cheering at Alma," said Sanom. "But like I was saying, I had dreamed of this for so long it was mind-boggling for me to realize that I was achieving my goals. That I was on the team of my dreams and now a national champion."

Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Former Gaylord cheer captain, Alpenfest Queen helps Alma to NCA and STUNT championships