Advertisement

Cheer Team Navarro Wins 2022 National Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championships

MORGAN SIMIANER
MORGAN SIMIANER

MORGAN SIMIANER/instagram

It was a festive day in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Friday when the stars of Netflix's Cheer became national champions in the NCA and NDA Collegiate Cheer and Dance competition.

The Navarro College cheerleading team's official Instagram account released the news with a triumphant team photo, with members arranged around their giant trophy.

"Congratulations to our Dawgs! National Champions," read the Texas team's caption, along with their performance score of 99.2.

The school's Instagram Story also showed various team members standing in the ocean waves — a winning tradition depicted on the show — with the golden trophy, topped with a megaphone, held high overhead.

RELATED: Cheer's Morgan Simianer Engaged to Stone Burleson: 'I've Been Dreaming About This Day'

Cheer star Morgan Simianer also shared the celebratory news on her own Instagram page, complete with a trio of photos showing her embracing former teammate Maddy Brum.

cheer
cheer

navarro college/instagram

"Swipe to see how the Dawgs did today!!! ❤️🥺 I love you, Navarro," she wrote in the caption. Newly engaged Simianer also shared photos showing off Maddy's oversized glittery NC ring, which stands for both National Champions and Navarro College.

The 2022 NCA & NDA Championships were sponsored by energy drink Celsius.

Cheer, Netflix's Emmy-winning cheerleading docuseries, returned for its second season on Jan. 12, two years after the premiere of its first six hit episodes.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The second installment follows coach Monica Aldama and the Navarro team as they return to the mat in hopes of their 15th championship title against rivals Trinity Valley Community College, all the while processing former teammate Jerry Harris' arrest.

Harris, 22, was arrested in September 2020 for allegedly producing child pornography, which was followed by additional federal charges that December.

RELATED VIDEO: Cheer Alum Morgan Simianer Explains What People on the Team Can Do After Leaving Navarro

The arrest came just days after two underage twin brothers filed a lawsuit against Harris for allegedly sexually abusing them and demanding nude photographs from them.

"We categorically dispute the claims made against Jerry Harris, which are alleged to have occurred when he was a teenager," a spokesperson for Harris told PEOPLE in September 2020. "We are confident that when the investigation is completed the true facts will be revealed."

The fifth episode of season two of Cheer is dedicated to the allegations against Harris, and also highlights his teammates' reactions to the charges. Harris has since pleaded guilty to two of his seven charges.

RELATED: Cheer Coach Monica Aldama Talks About 'Shocking' and 'Devastating' Jerry Harris Allegations

"Immediately my heart completely sank I honestly thought I was living in a bad dream. I could not wrap my head around any of that. I felt like someone had just died," Gabi Butler says in the episode, with teammate La'Darius Marshall, 23, telling viewers he called her and heard the athlete "bawling."

Butler, 23, continues, "I completely broke down. I was literally screaming and crying at the same time. And I remember Maddy [Brum] came out of her apartment and she just hugged me."

All episodes of Cheer are currently streaming on Netflix.