The Prior Lake High School cheerleaders went to the National High School Cheerleading Championship Feb. 10-11 at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida and the varsity game day team walked away fourth in the nation.

A game day performance is a three-minute routine of a sideline cheer, more of a football game scenario.

“In that one, we ended up moving onto finals and placing fourth in that division,” Prior Lake Cheerleading coach Jeff Stein said. “That was the first Prior Lake team to ever make it to finals for cheer.”

The team has a total of three coaches — the other two are Bridget Ortner and Chad Guastella.

The varsity team competed against 70 teams and placed 12th.

“It’s definitely the best performance we’ve ever had at Prior Lake,” Stein said.

Eight teams moved onto finals in the game day competition and Prior Lake was the eighth name read out to move on, Stein said.

“That’s a moment that makes all the hours in the gym worth it,” Stein said. “There was a lot of tension and drama waiting there. The girls were going crazy, there were tears of emotion, tears of validation for all the hard work they’ve done.”

Teams must attend a Varsity Spirit Camp and participate in the Squad Credentialing Program and receive a bid at the qualifying tournament to attend the championship.

“It’s pretty unreal,” Stein said. “These kids have worked so hard for so long. Our tryouts for this year were last April and we start practices early in the spring ... and we go all the way through the summer. Competition season starts around October. These kids are putting their nose to the grindstone all year.”

The championship was broadcast to more than 100 million homes on ESPN and ESPN2. About 45 parents went to Florida to support the team.

“If we were to ask them to do it all over again, I’m sure they would because that moment alone was worth it for them,” Stein said. “In the final performance, they stepped up and did the best routine they’ve ever done, hands down. They delivered when we needed them to.”