Powell High School’s most recent state championships will be celebrated at a Friday evening ceremony in the Panther Gym.

Between the girls and boys basketball teams’ varsity games — likely sometime between 6:30 and 7 p.m. — school officials will formally unfurl a pair of new and updated banners to recognize the titles won by the boys tennis team and the cheerleading squad over the past year.

PHS Activities/Athletic Director Scott McKenzie said the school is very proud of both teams and their leaders: head coach Joe Asay and assistant coach Brandon Preator for the tennis team and head coach Vicki Walsh and assistant coach Cindy Jacobs for the cheerleaders.

With a dominant showing at the state tennis tournament, the boys captured Powell’s first-ever title in September.

“It’s the first [tennis] title in school history, and the fact that they went up against all 4A schools to accomplish this feat is impressive,” McKenzie said. “Not only did the team win the championship, but they were able to distance themselves from the competition while doing it.”

Beyond the team championship, the Panthers also picked up a couple individual titles: Dylan Preator at No. 2 singles and Jay Cox and Logan Brown at No. 3 doubles.

As for the cheerleaders, they topped a 10-team field in the Class 3A Game Day Cheer category at March’s State Spirit Competition. It was their first-ever title in Game Day Cheer, though they previously won the All Girl Cheer (stunts) competition in 2010.

The PHS cheerleaders “did an amazing job to earn their state championship,” McKenzie said, adding, “It takes a special group to put together a routine and trust each other to be where they need to be at all times.”

—By CJ Baker