A person doesn't usually think of courtrooms as a setting for perky teenage girls with pompoms.

But an ugly dispute between two rival cheerleading companies in Roanoke County has tumbled into the courts. A $2.25 million lawsuit filed by Cheer Xplosion against the founders of Synergy Allstars demonstrates that competition in the cheerleading business can be even more ferocious outside the gym.

In the lawsuit, Cheer Xplosion alleges that Synergy Allstars stole its students, and each side accuses the other of lying to students' parents.

Bobbie and Mandi St. John, the owners of Cheer Xplosion, sued last week in Roanoke County Circuit Court. The couple accuse their former landlord, Laurie Hartwell; a former stockholder, Kristi Jessee; and former employee Jonathan Hatcher of conspiring to shanghai their students for the sake of forming a competing cheerleading academy.

According to the lawsuit, 39 students left the St. Johns' school after their parents received an e-mail from Hartwell accusing the St. Johns of lying to get out of their lease.

A second $600,000 lawsuit filed by Mandi St. John against Hartwell and Jessee accuses Hartwell of slandering her in the Sept. 26 e-mail. In the message, Hartwell describes St. John as both "perky, preppy sweet" and "irrational, unprofessional, unethical and dishonest."

Hartwell's e-mail insinuates that Mandi St. John has an emotional problem, said the St. Johns' attorney, Burt Albert.

At Cheer Xplosion, formerly Roanoke Cheerleading Academy, the St. Johns have coached two cheerleading teams to national championships. Cheer Xplosion is still in business but has only about 12 students, Albert said.

"My sense of fair play and decency has been so offended by this," the attorney said. "I can't tell you how despicable I think this was."

The new business, Synergy Allstars, owned by Kristi Jessee, opened this month in the same gym on Starkey Road where Cheer Xplosion had been located until September. The gym is Hartwell's building, and Hatcher is now an instructor for the new company. The company's Web site reads, "A New Day in Allstar Cheerleading!"

In a telephone interview, Hartwell called the St. Johns' lawsuits ridiculous and frivolous. She referred questions to her attorney, John Arnold, who did not return calls seeking comment.

According to the lawsuits, the St. Johns have been owners of Cheer Xplosion for three years. They had been in an ongoing dispute with Hartwell over their lease, the complaint says.

In September, the St. Johns discovered mold in the building and became concerned about how it might affect students' health, the suit claims. They notified parents about the mold and notified Hartwell that if the mold wasn't addressed immediately, they would terminate their lease.

The lawsuit alleges that Hartwell counterattacked by e-mailing parents of Cheer Xplosion's students using a list provided by Jessee.

Hartwell disputes the St. Johns' version of events, saying that an inspection found mold in an exterior wall, not inside the gym, and that it posed no health risk to students.

Hartwell's e-mail, included in the court file, claims that Mandi St. John lied to her customers when she told them mold had been found in the gym. Hartwell wrote that the St. Johns had been in default of their lease "countless times" and called the mold allegations "a very carefully organized scheme to get out of their lease."

The lawsuit alleges that Hartwell violated Virginia law by interfering with the St. Johns' business relationship with their clients. "She had no business contacting these people directly," Albert said.