NATCHEZ — This year’s Cathedral High School dance and cheerleader teams were filled with talent top to bottom.

Perhaps no further proof needs to be provided than the number of Lady Green Wave members selected as All-Americans in their respected field.

The Cathedral cheer squad had six members garner the distinguished honor, while the dance team placed four on the UDA team.

Those selected were invited to go to England to partake in London’s 30th annual New Year’s Day Parade, yet only three dance members and two cheerleaders elected to go.

The London participants included Emily Hootsell, Alisabeth Maier and Claire Upton from the dance team, while Grace Anne White and Anna Peyton Whittington served as the cheer team selections.

“It was amazing to get noticed (as an All-American),” Whittington said. “It felt really good. I made (All-American) before, but I didn’t go (to London) because I was scared, and I’m definitely glad that I went this year.”

The other selections included from the dance squad Emma Hogue, and from the cheer squad Abby Brown, Marli Vaughn, Eden McMillan and Abi Wheeler.

The cheer squad competed at a camp at LSU, where it proved its worth as a team and individually, notching their All-American honors.

“We had a real good team this year,” Cathedral cheer coach Lashon Brown said. “We did real great at LSU. We won a first-place (team) award. And usually when you when a lot of awards at camp, they pick more of your girls (as All-Americans).”

The dance team, meanwhile, made the trek to Hammond, La., where they competed against the region’s top dancers at Southeastern Louisiana University, proving their mettle against the area’s top squads.

Cathedral dance coach Paige Iseminger said she believes what set her squad apart was the traditional nature of their routines.

“We are kind of more old-schooled,” Iseminger said. “When we go to a camp, a lot of the other schools do a lot of hip-hop or jazz lyrical dances … We base our (routines) on clean, sharp routines. We have lots of pom routines that are very showy. So when we go to camps, we do stand out, because we do something different.”

The Hammond competition, however, came at no easy task, with practice and repetition proving to be the difference.

“It was nerve-wracking,” Hootsell said. “I tried out last year and didn’t make it. This year, the dance was easier, and we focused more on practicing (the routine), and I got real comfortable with it.”

It was the success at that competition that parlayed the squad into a successful London trip, and it was the strong bond among the girls that made the trip all the more special.

“I would have been too scared to go if I didn’t have anybody else to go with me,” Upton said. “I’m glad we were all able to go together, because it made it more fun.”

Once in London, the girls toured the city and took in all the historical sites the famous city had to offer.

“It was incredible,” Maier said. “It was the experience of a lifetime. I’ve always wanted to go (to London), and then they told me I could go at camp, and I couldn’t have been happier.”

But come New Year’s Day, it was showtime, and the Cathedral girls did their part in putting on a strong performance.

“There is nothing like it,” White said. “It was like your two seconds of fame. They don’t have cheerleaders over in London, so we were it. Everyone was taking pictures with us, and we were screaming and yelling … It was amazing, and it was awesome.”

The reward of achieving something special, not only individually but also as a as cheer and dance teams, is something they’ll cherish for years to come.

“We all worked really hard for it,” Upton said. “We practiced for three days in a row before going to (Southeastern), and then we only had one day to practice with 300 girls in a hotel room. But we did it, and it ended up being a really good (routine).”