La Salle’s Coral Buxeda is Miami Herald’s Dade Cheerleading Coach of the Year

Coral Buxeda did more than just lead the La Salle competitive cheerleading team to its third state title in the past four years.

She led the Lions to a national championship for the second time.

It’s why Buxeda is the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade Cheerleading Coach of the Year.

All three of La Salle’s state titles came over the past four years and all have come in the Class 1A extra-large non-tumbling division. The school finally broke through for its first state title in 2020 and repeated in 2021 before finishing runner-up in 2022 and then reclaiming the crown this season.

But La Salle’s road to a title was anything but a given. The Lions finished fourth at regional and had to compete twice at state on Feb. 3 in order to get its state championship. La Salle finished as the top team in the semifinal and then followed up with later that day by outscoring Carol City, Orlando First Academy, St. Augustine Menendez and Gainesville Oak Hall in the final for the state title.

A little over a week later, La Salle won the large non-tumbling division title at the National High School Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, an opportunity it received after finishing as runner-up in the UCA Central Florida Regional held at the Tampa Convention Center in December.

It was La Salle’s second national cheerleading title after also winning in 2021.