Lady Knights earn third place at Class 1A State Meet

    For the first time in school history, the Mater Dei Lady Knights cheer program brought a Final Four trophy home to Breese.
    MD initiated their cheer program in the 2005-2006 cheer season under the direction of Sandy Bonvie who led the Lady Knights to six state qualifying seasons.
    Amber Stiebel and Beth Markus took over the realms for the next five seasons with five state trips.
    Current head coach Jamie Jung took over in the 2023-2024 campaign and has taken MD to state in all three seasons with their first Final Four trophy coming this season.
    All told, Mater Dei has made the state competition 14 times with five of those coming as a co-ed varsity squad, one as a medium squad and the other as a small varsity squad.
    They began their storybook season with a qualifying score of 88.23 which was third in the Class 1A Edwardsville Sectional with the top five teams advancing to the IHSA State Competition in Bloomington.
    With 25 teams at the State’s preliminary round at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington, only 10 teams advance to the final on Saturday.
    Mater Dei did not disappoint as they were fifth overall with their score of 89.78. They were less than a point out of third place.
    Once again, the Lady Knights were flawless in their routine on Saturday in the finals and were awarded third place with their routine which scored them an 89.48. They were 1.2 points out of second-place Pinckneyville.