Baker Dance Takes Second, Cheer Places Fifth at 2025 Heart Championships

OLATHE, Kan. - The Baker cheer and dance teams battled with the rest of the conference at the 2025 Heart of America Conference Cheer & Dance Championships on Saturday in Olathe, Kan. where BU dance earned a runner-up finish and the cheer squad took fifth.

Sitting in third after the preliminary round, the Wildcats delivered an incredible finals performance and marked a score of 89.09 to leapfrog Mount Mercy (81.57) in the standings with a combined tally of 83.73.

Grand View (89.00) topped the seven-team field in the dance standings and earned a sweep of the conference titles after finishing in first on the cheer side as well.

The BU cheer team posted its second straight top-five finish at the Heart championship, placing fifth overall on a combined score of 73.50. The Wildcats came up just a few points shy of fourth-place William Penn, who totaled a score of 76.23.

Baker head dance coach Lynsey Payne was named Heart Dance Co-Coach of the Year after helping lead the Wildcats to their runner-up finish. It's the second time Payne has won the Coach of the Year award, collecting her first one back in 2020.

The Wildcats totaled 14 all-conference honorees between the two squads with nine dancers and five cheerleaders receiving postseason recognition.

Dancers Zach Bejarano and Mallory High were both named to the All-Heart First Team. Sarah Blanck, Gracie Quint, Wrenn Paden and Linda Shine were second-team selections, while Kadee Ellis, Samantha Resch and Ryleigh Williams earned honorable mention honors.

Highlighting the cheer honors, Riley Honeyman landed on the All-Heart First Team for the second straight year, while Anyaiya Calata-Garcia and Zoey Schroeter received second-team laurels. Emily Hansen and Madi Humphrey earned honorable mention recognition to round out the awards for the Wildcats.

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