The Celebrities Drill Team took home a win at National in all three styles categories on March 23 at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

“At first, I was in shock and didn’t know what to do when I heard we won nationals,” Captain Paige Cannon said. “It (winning) seemed so out of reach that I was astonished when we did.”

Around 130 schools attended.

“There were teams from all across the nation like Ohio, Nebraska, Louisiana, Kansas, Washington, New Mexico and even South Africa,” Drill Team Director Kelly Gray said.

The team was one of the smallest to compete.

“Chalmette High School from Los Angeles was our biggest competition since their team was more technically advanced than us, but we had more creative choreography and our dancers were a lot cleaner,” Gray said.

The director said she didn’t believe her team would come this far.

“I didn’t expect we would do this well because we were up against a lot of big schools with a ton of money,” Gray said. “When our jazz routine won by eight points, which is a lot, I felt that we might have a shot.”

Cannon said there was a lot of work put toward nationals.

“Practice was intense since our director makes us rehearse our dance over and over until it’s perfect,” she said. “There was no air conditioning in the gym (where) we practice, so we would get very sweaty.”

Gray said she is proud of the girls.

“The team works so hard with little recognition so it’s an honor to see all their tough labor pay off,” she said. “The Captains (Julia Araujo and Cannon) are the best leaders I have ever had and we are constantly striving for perfection. This group has set the bar really high and,hopefully, we can maintain this standard.”