St. Charles Varsity are National Champions

St. Charles Varsity are National Champions


By Anna Tutrone


          OCEAN CITY, Md. -- On the 22nd of February, the Varsity cheerleading team attended Reach the Beach competition.  There were teams from all over the nation.  This competition is held on a stage with over 10 judges searching for any mistake.  Instead of earning a traditional trophy, they give winner a wooden surfboard. Our coaches (Venora Penisi, Jackie DeCarluccio and Taylor Ahern) were so excited they started to cry tears of joy.  It wasn’t just the coaches who were crying, the cheerleaders and the cheerleader’s mothers as well.

                   The competition took place in a huge convention center.  All of the newcomers were feeling excitement and nervousness.  The veterans were pumped up and were thrilled. They calmed down the new girls and got them pumped up.  The first day was not our best performance, but since we were used to competing on a stage, the second performance was exceptional.  

                   Our score combined from both days was 92.125.  Each day was scored out of 50. This means our score from each individual day could have been a range from 1 to 50, but because we got that high score out of 100, we must have earned a tremendous tally.

                    The captains, Elizabeth McGovern and Lauren Gonzalez, were very excited because it is their last year of cheerleading and they  were excited they led their team to victory. In the huddle, before we go on the mat, the captains usually tell us, “Relax and be confident in yourselves and everything will happen on its own.” Also, “Let’s do this”.         

       These girls motivated us to do our best and to stay confident.

        After this, our team was very motivated to go and hit our routine at the annual Pep Rally and CYO Island championships at CSI. The team was commended by the the entire school and other friends and family following the National championship.  

       In the end, all of our hard work paid off !