OCEAN CITY – The North Dorchester High School cheerleading team placed fifth in the weekend’s “Reach the Beach OC Rec/Schools Nationals” cheer and dance competition in Ocean City.

Fifth is pretty good for cheerleading, but they might have been champs when it comes to compassion.

The Eagle girls and boy dedicated their performance to teammate Cami Abbott, who is recovering from a kidney transplant and was unable to attend. The cheerleaders even video-chatted with Cami when they were at the competition, so she could feel that she was with them.

“Words cannot really express how proud I am of this team,” Coach Amber Aaron said. “We lost a few members and added some members less than a month before the competition. We had some people on the team who have never done cheer before and they went out on the mat like they have been doing it since they were 2 years old.”

“That all being said, this amazing team received the highest scores that North Dorchester High School has received since I have been coach. We had a score sheet with the rare ‘no deductions’ sticker. I can’t wait to do it again next year.”