Midview Cheerleading: A Decade of Growth
When Katie Hicks (née Evin) took the helm of Midview Cheerleading in the fall of 2015 she did so with a clear vision of what the program could become. Ten years later, we reflect on all that her Middies have accomplished in the cheerleading world.
Prior to Hicks' arrival, Midview Cheerleading had a long history of being the spirit ambassadors of the district. The Middies cheered on the sidelines of football and boys basketball games and then performed once a year at the league competition each November. While she remained committed to these traditions, Hicks also sought to modernize the program by aligning it with national trends.
"My goal is to build a strong and competitive cheerleading program at Midview High School," said Hicks at the time of her hiring. "As a former college cheerleader, I know what it takes to cheer at the collegiate level. I want to prepare my athletes so that they can expand their cheerleading careers beyond high school."
A former cheerleader at Fairview High School, Hicks went on to cheer at Ohio University, where she earned a degree in Special Education in 2014. That summer, she joined Midview as an Intervention Specialist and Freshmen Cheerleading Coach.
Midview Competition Squad
In her first year leading the Midview Cheerleading program, Coach Hicks introduced a 15-person high school competition squad, bringing together student-athletes from the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Freshmen sideline teams. A traditional competition routine is two and a half minutes and incorporates dance, tumbling and cheer segments. The team tumbled once a week at North Coast All Stars in Berea and entered six different events that winter.
"Coach Evin took over my senior year when unfortunately, Coach [Amy] Guildoo had to step down," said Hailey Thompson '16, (née Janda), who is the current Midview Middle School Competition Coach. "This started as a very hard transition for me, as I had a great relationship with Guildoo and knew I'd miss her very much. However, Coach Evin was dedicated to making it easy on everyone and quickly transformed our program."
The squads first-ever non-league competition was the Champion Cheer Central Fall Cheer and Dance Classic on November 1, 2015. The Middies then placed fourth at the Southwestern Conference (SWC) Cheerleading Competition before securing their first major win at the AmeriCheer Winter Wonderland Open Nationals event at Kalahari on January 17, 2016. Midview capped off the season by taking 14th at the Division II State Cheerleading Championship.
"My first year as a head coach was filled with many challenges but also many rewards," Hicks said. "I will never forget when our competitive cheerleading team took the mat for the first time. Those athletes helped create the program we have today. That team will always have a special place in my heart."
In year two Coach Hicks raised the bar by introducing a back handspring requirement for the high school competition team and establishing a competition squad at the middle school level. The Athletics Department also gifted the program its own competition mat so that they could safely practice in the district regularly. The Middies hosted the SWC Cheerleading Competition for the first time and tied for runner-up at the event.
Midview made history later that season by qualifying for and competing at the 2017 Universal Cheerleading Association (UCA) National High School Cheerleading Championship in Orlando, Florida. The pinnacle of interscholastic cheerleading was first introduced in 1980 and takes place annually in early February at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. The Middies concluded their season with a third-place finish in the Large Varsity Non-Building division—their highest placement to date for the traditional squad.
Midview's traditional competition squad has now qualified for UCA Nationals in each of the last nine seasons. Following their initial third-place finish, the Middies have earned a top nine placement every year. They finished seventh in the Division II Non-Building division in 2025.
Midview Sparkle
In addition to being the Spirit Coordinator for Midview, Hicks leads the Work-Based Learning Program at Midview High School. It is a four-year unique educational pathway designed to prepare students with disabilities for employment and independent living post-graduation.
In the 2017-18 school year, Hicks added to the Midview Cheerleading lineup with the introduction of Midview Sparkle, which combines her passion for cheerleading and supporting those with disabilities. The Sparkle Effect is a national non-profit organization that promotes inclusiveness by having students with and without disabilities cheer together. Midview Sparkle cheers at both home football and Friday night basketball games as well as various other events throughout the calendar year.
"The Midview Community has had a great response to Midview Sparkle since its inception," Athletics Director Dan May said. "Midview Sparkle is a shining example to everyone in Middie Nation. The sense of pride they show in the hallways and on the sidelines is exactly what this program is all about."
Now in its eighth year, the student-run team continues to provide positive experiences for all involved. It has also served as a model for other schools in the area to take up the initiative to better their school culture and community.
Midview Game Day
In 2015, UCA introduced Game Day, a new style of competition cheerleading inspired by the energy and traditions of sideline performances. The three-minute routine starts with a band dance, followed by a situational sideline based on a judge's cue. The sideline is followed by a cheer and right into a school's fight song. Unlike traditional cheerleading competitions, running tumbling is not permitted.
Midview's inaugural Game Day squad featured 17 girls and one boy in 2018-19. The Middies took to the new style of competition quickly and earned their first trip to UCA Nationals that season, where they placed fourth in the Varsity Non-Building Division.
"Being a part of Midview's first Game Day squad was definitely an experience I'll never forget," said Ashley Blascak '21. "I remember when Coach Evin first told us she was adding it to our program, and I wasn't really sure what it was. Since it was new to everyone, we became closer as a squad as we learned together what it took to compete."
Encouraged by their early success, Midview committed to growing its Game Day program—and the results speak for themselves. The squad has made its mark at the conference, state and national levels.
The Middies won the inaugural SWC Game Day Championship in 2020 and successfully defended their title in 2021 and 2022. They have finished as runners-up the past two seasons. Their Game Day dominance helped them win the SWC Overall Championship in both 2020 and 2023.
At the state level, the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) introduced its Spirit Championship in 2021. The Middies competed in Division II the first three seasons, where they finished third and then runner-up in back-to-back years. This season, after moving to Division III, they once again placed second in the state.
On the national stage, Midview secured a program-best third-place finish at UCA Nationals in 2020. The Middies have earned a trip back to Disney each year and finished fourth in the Varsity Division II Non-Building Game Day division this season.
Stunting
In 2017, Hicks expanded the Midview cheerleading portfolio by introducing stunting, an element widely recognized in cheerleading programs across the country but still relatively uncommon in Ohio at the time. Interscholastic stunting is guided by the National Federation of State High School Association (NFHS).
Midview's high school and middle school football and basketball squads incorporate stunts in their sideline routines at games. Additionally, Midview Middle School has competed in the Game Day Building division the last two seasons, and the youth squads have begun integrating stunting into their competitions through North Coast.
STUNT is the fastest-growing female sport in the nation and an emerging sport at the NCAA level. Created by USA Cheer, STUNT provides high schools, colleges, and universities with a structured, competitive format that aligns with Title IX requirements. STUNT expands participation opportunities for the over 500,000 interscholastic cheerleaders nationwide by providing an avenue for these athletes to use their cheerleading background in a new format.
A number of former Middies, including Blascak, have embraced this opportunity and gone on to compete in STUNT at the collegiate level.
Promoting Local Cheerleading
Hicks knows that the key to continued success is having strong competition. In order to foster that locally, she has loaned out Midview's mat to numerous schools as a way to help ease their burden or help them showcase their skills to their school communities. Additionally, the Middies host an annual showcase, allowing local teams to perform their routines in front of a packed gymnasium before competing at UCA Nationals. These efforts stem from her deep passion for the sport and her commitment to its growth.
Beyond Midview, Hicks serves as the Traditional Program Director at North Coast, where she offers private lessons for youth cheerleaders and helps coach their competition team. She also helps area schools as a judge during their team selection process.
The 2018 Royal Showdown featured 12 school districts, three youth programs and North Coast All-Stars competing or showcasing their routines across a variety of divisions. Just seven years later, the 2024 event expanded to an eight-hour marathon that included a handful of club programs as well as seven youth organizations, eight middle school programs, 20 high school programs and even one college program—a testament to the growth of cheerleading across the area.
Teaching Life Lessons Through Cheer
Coach Hicks and her assistants pride themselves as being more than just cheerleading instructors. They use the sport to develop the young Middies that enter their program into well-rounded adults ready to make their own impact on society.
"Midview Cheer taught us how to work hard and build relationships," said Blascak. "Having the same goals really draws a connection between teammates. There were times we would hold practices in the morning before school and even choose to add extra practices. Our team wanted to do these things because we wanted to be successful and live up to the expectations set by our coaches. Coach Evin's energy and love for the program really made a difference for all of us. She showed up to every single practice with high energy, even after long days of teaching, and you could always see how she believed in us as a team."
Hicks also has an impressive way of building confidence in her student-athletes.
"As a cheerleader, Coach Evin helped me get to where I am today because of the confidence that she was able to give me when it was time to perform," said Ally Atkinson '23, who is now a sophomore at Bowling Green State University. "Knowing I had a coach who always believed in me allowed me to have the most confidence in myself. This made the most difference to me, even more than the hours spent practicing. Without her pushing me and forcing me to find confidence within myself, I truly would not be where I am today as a collegiate cheerleader."
Hicks' positive approach to leadership is something many of her cheerleaders take with them long after graduating the program.
"The way she treats every one of her athletes with positivity, no matter the type of practice we were having, is something I try to emulate daily since it was this positivity that always helped the team perform with energy and passion," Atkinson said. "As a person, Coach Evin really showed me that hard work can really take you anywhere in life. The way she taught me to work hard on the mat allowed me to have something to translate into my school and work experiences. It has pushed me to always be driven and never settle for less when I know I could do better. This has really paid off for me when it comes to taking college courses and cheerleading at the same time since I know that as long as I work hard, everything will pay off in the end."
Building a Legacy
Coach Hicks has been instrumental in instilling her passion for the sport into her student-athletes, many of whom have gone on to cheer at the collegiate level.
"With the amount of work Coach Evin put into the program making Midview a household name within the cheerleading community, I believe she set ALL of her cheerleaders up for success," Blascak said. "She is the reason I fell in love with the sport and wanted to continue my athletics into college. Being a part of Baldwin Wallace's first ever STUNT team reminded me of sophomore year when Game Day cheer was first implemented into the program. The thrill of being a part of something new is definitely an unforgettable experience."
In recent years, Hicks' former cheerleaders have represented Midview at the University of Akron, Baldwin Wallace University, Bowling Green State University, Cleveland State University, Heidelberg University, Hiram College, Kent State University and University of Mount Union. That trend will continue with at least two more seniors from this year's squad committed to cheer at the next level. Many have also become UCA Staff members after graduating from Midview.
"College cheerleading shaped me into the person and coach I am today," Hicks said. "I am so thankful for the opportunities Ohio University provided me. There is nothing more rewarding as a coach than seeing so many athletes continue their cheer career at the next level. I love being a part of their journey and seeing their success. I am happy they are able to continue doing what they love."
Midview alumni Kylie Bunner '23, Olivia Case '23, and Ally Atkinson '23 relied on their Midview training while competing at UCA College Nationals with Bowling Green State University. In 2024, the former Middies helped the Falcons earn runner-up in the Division IA All-Girls Game Day division that season. Atkinson and Case were also on the same team that finished third in the 2025 competition.
"My experience of competing at UCA High School Nationals helped me when it came to the big stage for UCA College Nationals because of the way that Coach Evin was able to prepare and train me," Atkinson said. Since there are a lot of factors that go into being able to compete at nationals, I always felt very prepared, and I always knew what to expect. This is because Coach Evin made us practice the exact same way as we would compete, such as practicing the day before and having consistency in our competition days and warmups, etc. This later ended up being the same way I'd have to practice in college, so the transition was very seamless between the two for me because of the way I was trained."
Looking to the Future
Now a decade into her head coaching career, Hicks still has her eyes on the future and what it holds for Midview Cheerleading.
"I am very proud of the cheerleading program we have created at Midview," said Hicks. "The last decade has been filled with so many memories and accomplishments. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with great assistant coaches, athletes, and parents."
Hicks and her staff will continue to push boundaries, encouraging their athletes to embrace new challenges and to become the best cheerleaders they can be. She hopes to one day be able to compete at the national level in a building division and ultimately become the first Midview team to bring home an OHSAA title.
"I am lucky to have watched this program flourish and to get to coach under Coach Evin's leadership is such an honor," Thompson said. "She has changed Midview Cheerleading for the better and will continue to do so. We as alumni are grateful for her and all that she has done!"
For Hicks and her cheerleaders, the ultimate goal is to one day stand atop the UCA podium, wearing the coveted white jackets and gold medals awarded only to National Champions.
"I can only imagine seeing Midview cheerleading growing and continuing to thrive under Coach Evin's leadership," Atkinson said. "I have no doubt that the skill set and passion will rise, leading to the increase of talent each year. I can also see Midview cheerleading winning their first UCA High School National Championship and finally getting the white jacket and gold medal they deserve!"