It seems everything Lori Burns touches turns to gold.

So four years ago, Carma Reagan made sure Burns had a hand in the future of cheerleading at Kingfisher High School.

Together, they helped bring gold back to KHS.

Reagan is Kingfisher High School’s cheer coach and an accomplished one at that.

She won a state championship when coaching Deer Creek in 2001 and was the state runner-up coach the year before that.

When she was approached four years ago about taking over the same job at Kingfisher, she hesitated.

Sara Garrett, who’s had two daughters come through the KHS cheer program, gave her a sturdy nudge. Reagan relented and accepted. And Reagan knew exactly the person

to turn to in order to help get KHS cheer back to the pinnacle.

It was the person who put it there in the first place.

It was Lori Burns, who coached Kingfisher to three straight cheer championships from 2006-08.

“We talked four years ago before I took this job and she said she would do it if I did it,” Reagan said.

Reagan and Burns crossed paths when both were coaches.

Other than their shared championship pedigrees, Reagan knew they had one other important aspect in common.

“I knew we could work well together because we pay attention to detail,” Reagan said.

It was that laser-like focus that made Burns perhaps the most accomplished educator and coach in Kingfisher Pub- lic Schools history.

It’s nearly impossible to dwarf the accomplishment of being a back-to-backto- back state championship coach, but that’s what Burns’ accomplishments in the FFA wing of the high school have done.

State championships. National championships. An unprecedented streak of Sweepstakes trophies.

The honors and recognition that Burns (along with her husband, Ryan) through their students brought to KHS, the city and even the state of Oklahoma is basically unrivaled.

And it took place for two decades.

Now the Burns family is at Dover and you see that program suddenly start to pump out winners in CDE contests and last year had its first-ever state FFA officer.

It’s no coincidence. So Reagan knew what she was doing when she called on Burns to help.

And, to be fair, it’s not like they had to pull Kingfi sher cheer from any deep depths.

The squads were frequent state qualifiers under Tiffanie Barnett, but she took a different career path, which left a coaching void in the program.

Eventually, it came time for Reagan and Burns to take over.

“Coming in as a freshman, it was nerve racking for me because I had only had my mom as a coach,” said Libbie Barnett, Tiffanie’s youngest daughter and one of nine seniors on this year’s cheer team. “But I soon realized that I had nothing to worry about.

“They only want what’s best for you.”

That meant pushing the cheerleaders to what they thought were their limits and pushing them some more.

It meant improving every aspect of their skills over the years.

That’s where Burns came in.

“We may not have had the most talent at state the last few years but it was only a matter of time,” Reagan said.

“By paying attention to the details and working on building stunt and tumbling skills we became more talented.

“Lori has helped lots of girls go from no tumbling skills to throwing tucks and layouts at state. We just needed the time to grow.”

The plan when they came in was to “build the firm foundation with expectations and grow from there,” Reagan said.

The improvement in talent was verified in June.

When a team gets its routine, the individuals perform in front of the choreographers who then determine your capability of performing a difficult routine.

In 2022, they were told they weren’t quite ready for a high level of difficulty.

In 2023, the skill check resulted in choreographers designing a routine of extreme difficulty.

In June and July, the cheerleaders went through Summer Pride workouts AND worked six days a week on their routine.

Once school began, practices went from about 2:30 to nearly 5:30 every afternoon and also on Sunday evenings.

Despite a less-than-perfect routine at the regional, Kingfisher still won by 10 points.

The level of difficulty of the routine was a major factor.

There are other parts that matter outside of the elite stunts, the tucks, the tumbling and the cheers.

The details. “Lori and I drill the little things besides hitting stunts and tumbling,” Reagan said.

“Motions technique. Jump technique. Voices and faces. We always say attention to small details is what can help teams like ours stand out.”

That’s what Burns did with those cheer teams in 2006, 2007 and 2008. It’s what she did with countless parliamentary procedure teams, prepared public speaking participants and conduct of chapter meetings teams (and so many others).

It’s what she and Reagan did with the 2023 team that nailed its routine at state and was announced as the 2023 Class 4A state champion.

There were some long, strenuous and even tearful days between June and last Saturday.

Still, the Kingfisher cheerleaders found out the juice was worth the squeeze.

“We wouldn’t be where we are today without them,” said senior Amy Deatherage. “They taught us with discipline and commitment there is reward in the end.”

Barnett experienced firsthand the coaches’ combined expertise.

“I’ve had many struggles with my tumbling from several past injuries and all they’ve wanted was for me to succeed,” she said.

“They have been supportive and continued to push me in other components of cheer. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending with these coaches.”

The ending was pure gold...a state championship.

It started when this crop of seniors were freshmen. They were that strong foundation.

Reagan and Burns built from there.

The week between state and regionals, they knew the goal was within reach.

“Lori and I feel like this is our year… our turn to win,” Reagan said. “But no matter the outcome, I am proud of the work we have put in and where our program stands today. Lots of girls past and present have helped build Kingfisher cheer back to what it used to be when Lori first started coaching.”

Kingfisher got there. It got there because of the talent, the dedication and hard work of 20 young ladies.

It also got there because Reagan wasn’t too proud to call on the best possible person to help.

And it got there because Lori Burns gave what little spare time she had to the Kingfisher cheer program.

“We make a good team,” Reagan said. “We may be some of the oldest cheer coaches out there, but these girls keep us young at heart.

“There is no one I’d rather do this crazy job with than her!”