Success isn't good enough for coach Randi Stoner and her Butler High School competitive cheerleading squad.

They want a national championship.

The 15-member team — 12 of whom competed — came within 2½ points of a national title Sunday night at the Universal Cheerleading Association's National High School Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, Fla.

The Golden Tornado settled for second place, the best national finish in the program's history, behind Victoria Memorial (Texas) High School.

"Victoria has won this championship before," Stoner said. "It's no shame finishing second to them.

"But we were off just 2½ total points between eight judges. … That's nothing."

Butler has sniffed championship glory before. The Tornado cheerleaders finished third at the UCA championships in 2004 and came in fourth last year. The team finished 11th in 2003.

Still, something was missing.

"We've had good performances down there, but we hadn't been consistent," Stoner said. "It was time to take a step back and figure out what we've been doing wrong.

"We decided our choreography was outdated. We changed our style a lot."

Joe Cooper, UCA's Northeastern Region manager based in New Jersey, was brought to Butler for a day to observe the Tornado's routine.

"He gave us a fresh look. He was a fresh eye who gave us a fresh start," Stoner admitted.

Butler's competition squad consisted of seniors and juniors in past years. This year, four freshmen and two sophomores were among the 15-member unit.

"I'm glad we did that," senior cheerleader Nicole Scott said. "It got our younger cheerleaders involved at that level right away."

"If freshmen and sophomores are good enough in football, wrestling, basketball, they play right away," Stoner said. "We took that approach this year. I mean, why wait?"

Scott had a back injury that sidelined her for much of the competitive season. But when fellow senior Missy Mato injured an ankle recently, sophomore Fallon O'Donnell went from a base position to being on top during the team's building formations.

Scott was asked to assume a base role and did so. Junior Maggie Steinheiser competed despite having bursitis in a shoulder and junior Brandi Scott competed with a bruised knee.

"There really is no off-season in cheerleading and there's a lot of wear and tear," Stoner said. "This whole team was so committed and dedicated. They just peaked at the right time."

There were 54 teams in the small-school division and Butler finished first in its 27-team preliminary bracket, earning a bye straight to the finals.

The Tornado compete in the small-school division because of the size of their squad, not the size of their school.

"It bothers me sometimes that for a school as big as Butler, we don't have more girls on the team," Stoner said. "We don't have quantity, but we definitely have quality.

"All-star cheerleading teams are big in this area now and that's hurt our numbers. Macey Buzanoski, a freshman, is our only cheerleader who also competes for an all-star squad. She leaves for Atlanta two days after we get home for their nationals."

Haley Spinneweber is the lone captain on the team. She will be attending Ohio State University to major in nursing and might try to make the cheerleading squad as a walk-on.

Fellow senior Mel Grant plans to try out for cheerleading at West Virginia University. None of Butler's other four seniors plan on extending their cheering careers.

"I've been doing this for nine years. I wasn't planning on trying out in college at first, but now I realize how much I love cheerleading," Spinneweber said.

"This was a good group of girls, a perfect mix. The younger girls wanted to perform well for the seniors. We showed them tapes of last year's nationals so they could visualize the lights and ESPN cameras."

Stoner's assistant coaches are Stacey Hundertmark and Lindsay Hasychak. The latter competed on Butler's 2001 and 2002 teams that did not place at nationals.

"The girls keep getting better every year," Hasychak said. "They're more determined and more competitive.

"This (national competition) was a whole new thing for our freshmen and sophomores, yet they didn't bat an eye down there."

Butler competes in four events during the school year. None of those events has more than five other teams in them.

"There's nothing we do up here that can prepare these girls for what they're going to see in Florida," Stoner said.

Hasychak said that nerves often play a factor in how a team performs at nationals.

"How you handle the pressure determines a lot," she said. "This team was confident and came across that way. Thursday and Friday, they were anxious to get to practice and work on some things. They wanted to show everybody what they could do."

Butler's strength is in its tumbling skills, and its routine played to that. The Tornado were active, their cheers unique.

"Tuffy the Tornado, our mascot, is always a big hit down here," Scott said. "We use a lot of Tuffy signs and we sold our routine facially."

All that's left for Butler in Orlando now is to bring home the national title.

"It can happen for us. I'm convinced now more than ever," Stoner said. "Maybe coming so close this year will get more girls to do tryouts in April. I hope so."