Kate Nelson’s basement in her Frankfort home was vacant Saturday afternoon.

That’s just the way she liked it.

That’s the way the entire Lincoln-Way East competitive cheerleading team liked it.

Except for the 2021 season when COVID-19 forced the meet to be run virtually, the Griffins made it to the second day of the Illinois High School Association state meet each year since 2011, collecting seven state titles in the process.

That came to a screeching halt in 2025, when they finished 12th in the preliminaries, missing a top-10 finish by 0.21 of a point.

After the shock of missing out wore off, the Griffins came home. Nelson, then a junior, gathered the team together in her basement to watch the finals on a big-screen TV.

“I thought ‘we have to be together on his day’’’ Nelson said. “We wouldn’t have been in the best state if we were all alone. I thought we might as well watch the competition all together. It was so fun.”

An empty basement, however, was even a lot more fun. Not only did the Griffins make it to the second day Saturday, they won their eighth state championship.

East racked up a 97.92 score to top Lockport’s 97.00 to win the Class 3A title at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. It was a banner day for the Lincoln-Way area as Lincoln-Way Central finished fifth and Lincoln-Way West 10th in Class 3A, and Providence Catholic took third in Class 2A.

Hundreds of people celebrate Lincoln-Way East’s cheerleading championship Feb. 8, 2026, in the gym in the Frankfort campus. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown)

Also from the Southland area, Marist took eighth in Class 3A while Shepard and Thornton were eighth and ninth respectively in the coed division.

The Griffins came home to a couple of celebrations in the Frankfort school’s gym. They made an appearance at a turnabout dance Saturday night, and hundreds of friends and family members joined the team Sunday morning in a celebration.

Coach Jayson Polad had a light moment Sunday when he accidentally dropped his championship medal.

“That’s OK, I have seven more,” he said with a smile.

Lincoln-Way East cheerleading coach Jayson Polad, who has won eight state championships, speaks Sunday at a celebration honoring the Griffins cheerleaders. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown)

It’s a smile that has been plastered on his face all year as he enjoyed watching how his team recovered from last season’s hiccup to this year’s championship.

“It’s incredible,” Polad said. “It’s not easy to pick yourself up from that. It was the first time ever we made it to state and didn’t make it to Day 2. As a coach, you worry that it might stick.

“You don’t know that on Day 1 — is that going to be on the back of their minds?”

He said once the music turned on during Friday’s preliminaries, he knew he didn’t have anything to worry about.

In Friday’s round, Lockport was the leader with 97.11 points and Lincoln-Way East was second at 96.24 and safely in position to give itself the confidence for a state championship run Saturday.

Lincoln-Way East athletes on the IHSA roster are Nelson, Marcie Duncan, Savannah Lyons, Delaney Drogemuller, Maddie Kohler, Fiona Hilbert, Nora Schlinger, Lily Warning, Bella Berner, Briana Drebot, Sinead Deiters, Emma Weyer, Jessica Drebot, Julia Scully, Mia Simon, Emma Carroll, Kesey Bulthuis, Morgan Powell, Harper Kostro, Kate Grotke, Libby Petrovich, Sarah Hellrung, Lexi Darnell, Jaela Griffin, Paisley Polad and Ashley Schoon.

Jayson Polad was emotional Sunday when talking about sharing the championship experience with his daughter, Paisley.

“I’ve had a lot of special moments  here, but it made me so proud to walk with her across that stage,” he said.

He also announced that Drogemuller is this year’s MVP.

Lincoln-Way East senior Delaney Drogemuller holds up the state championship cheerleading trophy Sunday. She was named the team’s MVP. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown)

Polad rarely designates an MVP because he said each athlete plays a big role in the success of the team.

He broke that self unwritten rule in 2023 when he named Kaitlyn Regnier as the MVP and broke it again this year with Drogemuller.

Interestingly, Rednier helped Drogemuller when Regnier was a freshman.

Drogemuller learned well.

“When we brought her up as a freshman and she was very green and had a lot to learn,” Polad said. “But you could just tell from the outset that her positive attitude and her mindset was special.”

Drogemuller said she came to the sport late in the game as an eighth grader at Hickory Creek Middle School.

Now she loves it so much, she hopes to continue cheerleading in college.

She will leave Lincoln-Way East as a champion and winning this year was huge for her due to last season’s disappointment.

“Last year was a shock and it was heartbreaking,” Drogemuller said. “It was super weird to not be there.

“But, literally everything happens for a reason and we knew we were going to come back even stronger this year.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.

 

 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/09/lincoln-way-east-competitive-cheer-champs/