Following an unconventional finals round in the Division II Large Pom category at the 2019 Spiritline State Championships, the AIA has decided to name Cactus Shadows High School and Notre Dame Prep as co-champions.

Due to venue availability and time constraints for this year’s championships, the event was moved from one day to two in order to accommodate all schools that wished to perform. This created an issue for Cactus Shadows, as its squad was set to perform elsewhere on the same day of their scheduled AIA performance. Spiritline tournament administrators, in an attempt to be helpful, offered an alternative option to the squad outside the normal scope of operational procedures. It could perform ahead of time on camera in front of the administrators, and have one attempt at that performance. That recording was then scored by judges at a later date.

Following review of the footage, CSHS scored high was awarded first place by the judges. NDP, which performed at Estrella Foothills High School on the scheduled day of completion, earned the highest score among squads in attendance, just behind Cactus Shadows.

With the discrepancy of having two squads performing at different times under different circumstances, the AIA felt that both teams deserved to be called champions. No fault is to be placed with either school as both did exactly what they were told by tournament administrators. With this, each squad was presented a championship banner and trophy.