Yukon High School pom team celebrates national title win

Members of the Yukon High School Pom Squad are waking up as champions after securing a national title over the weekend in Florida.

The team received a warm welcome when their plane landed back in Oklahoma City Monday night, and the team also joined News 9 on Tuesday to discuss the recent win.

The 2025 UDA National Dance Team Championship saw schools from across the country come to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando to compete for top honors, and Yukon High School came out on top in the Large Varsity Division I - Game Day category.

Team coach Makenna Bell and Yukon High School junior Caroline Weems said the team practiced every day to get to where they are, and are happy to know their hard work paid off.

"We practice every day after school," Bell said. "Winter break, Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, we are very practice-oriented."

"We drill it every single day at practice, we practice year-round," Weems said. "Just to get perfect for a two-minute routine."

As the team waited on stage to hear the winners, Yukon High School junior Ava Thomas described the experience as "nerve-wracking."

"It was so nerve-wracking, but it was such a surreal feeling," Thomas said. "It was something I've always dreamed about. They called [third place], and we were holding each other's hands."

Alexa Combs, another junior at Yukon, said winning was what the team had dreamed of.

"The vibes were really up, and we were all so excited," Combs said. "We've always wanted the white jackets and the medals... You see people walking around ESPN with the white jackets, and you're like, 'I really want a white jacket.'"