From cheering on a high school football field to cheering in college and medaling in the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) competition, Cailynn Nichols and Kinley Lacouture have come a long way.
Nichols and Lacouture, who graduated from LCM in 2025 and earned cheerleading scholarships at Lamar University, recently placed second at the NCA competition in Daytona, Florida. Both plan to cheer until they graduate. Nichols is a freshman in college and is working towards her bachelor’s degree in psychology. Lacouture is a freshman in college and is working towards her bachelor’s degree in education. She then plans to go to law school after she completes her bachelor’s degree.
They cheered against ten teams at the NCA competition.
“It felt unreal to win second place,” Nichols said. “Daytona has been a dream of mine since I was little, so placing second on the bandshell was something I will never forget. At first, I did not even believe it, but then it just turned into so much pride for my team.”
Nichols and Lacouture trained day and night for the NCA competition. They have had long practices, woken up early, and gone to bed late. Thankfully, as LCMHS alumni, they are used to this schedule because they both did cheer and UIL.
“Cheering at LCM taught me teamwork and helped show how having a bond with your teammates makes it all worth it,” Lacouture said.
According to Nichols, cheering at Lamar is definitely more challenging than high school.
“The skills are more advanced, the expectations are higher, and it takes a bigger time commitment, but it makes it even more rewarding,” Nichols said. “Cheer has been my passion since I was five years old, and it’s a huge part of who I am. Getting second at Nationals just showed me that all the hard work really does pay off, and I couldn’t be prouder of my team.”
