PHOTO SHOW: Northwest High Hosts 7th Annual 'Jaguar Pom Invitational'

What started out as a simple school fundraiser has turned into one of the county's biggest and most competitive high school pom competitions. The 7th Annual Jaguar Pom Invitational featured some of the area's top squads, battling it out in a three-division format on Saturday at Northwest High School.

According to Northwest teacher and one of the competition's coordinators Kristina Varesco, "the last two years, we've had just about every school in the county perform. So, it's definitely one of the largest competitions in the county."

"We're definitely proud of what the competition has evolved into," added Northwest Principal Lance Dempsey. 

This year, 17 area schools participated with a few more scheduled to attend but in some cases backed out due to the weather conditions this past week. Northwest is not allowed to compete. 

The competition is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II, and Division III. Division I is the most competitive division, with the county's strongest teams competing. Divisional assignment is based on last year's rankings in the Montgomery County Pom Championships, according to Varesco.  

The top three teams from each division were awarded trophies as well as the top three captains. In addition, there is an award for best choreography.

Poolesville took home first place in the Division III competition, which was held at 10:30 a.m., followed by Blair and Bethesda-Chevy Chase. Northwood, which was the fourth school competiting in Division III, took home the captain's title. Poolesville also won the choreography award.

In Division II, which began at 2 p.m., Richard Montgomery took home top honors in the team category, followed by Whitman and Clarksburg. Whitman took first place in the captain's category and Richard Montgomery also took top honors for choreography. 

The evening's final and largest division featured seven teams performing. Sherwood took first place, followed by Blake and Magruder. Sherwood also took top prize in the captain's category and choreography. 

Blake, Clarksburg, and Poolesville were deemed the schools with most school spirit in their respective divisions. 

Check out the photos from the competition.