The 2015-16 WHS cheerleading squad.

The Columbia and Waterloo high school varsity cheerleading squads both advanced to next weekend’s IHSA state competitive cheerleading meet by virtue of impressive performances at Saturday’s sectional meet at Triad High School.

Highland won the medium division of the Triad sectional with a score of 89.40, followed by Waterloo at 88.63 and Columbia at 86.87. The top five schools advance to state.

Columbia placed second in the medium division last year at the IHSA state meet. Waterloo, competing in the co-ed division, also advanced to state last year.

The 2015-16 Columbia High School cheerleading squad.

This year’s state competition takes place Feb. 5-6 at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington.

Highland won the recent ICCA state competition in Springfield, with Columbia placing second, Triad placing third and Waterloo placing fourth in the medium varsity division.

In Bloomington, Waterloo just missed advancing to Saturday’s final, placing 11th in Friday’s prelim by less than one point to 10th-place Wauconda. Only the top 10 teams advance to the final. Columbia placed sixth in the preliminary round to advance to Saturday’s final. In the final, Columbia placed fifth overall.