Alternative rocker Zayde Wolf’s lyric “Live life through the good and bad” was one of the excerpts used in Lincoln-Way East High School’s competitive cheerleading routine this season.
“That really represents this year,” said Alyssa Goodman, a senior at the school in Frankfort. “This is something that never happened before and might not happen again.”
Because of COVID-19 concerns, there were many changes to the Illinois High School Association state meet for cheerleading.
Instead of being held at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington with thousands of people in the stands making it a high-energy event, teams had to videotape their routines in empty gyms and send them in.
There was no stunting — building pyramids and highflying tosses — allowed.
There was just one round of competition rather than the typical two rounds over two days.
So many changes.
But one thing stayed the same. Southland schools dominated. Actually, the area did better in the virtual competition than ever before as it crowed three champions in the four categories on Saturday. Since the IHSA started hosting state tournaments for cheerleading in 2006, the Southland has captured at least one title every year and two titles six times.
This year, Lincoln-Way East won its sixth state title in the past eight years and became the first team in state history to win three in a row in the large team division as the Griffins scored a state championship record 98.73 score. Sandburg High School in Orland Park finished second with a 96.71 and Lincoln-Way West in New Lenox took third with a 96.60. With Marist in Chicago finishing sixth and Andrew in Tinley Park finishing ninth, that’s five area teams in the top nine in that division.
Oak Forest High School won its second title with a 97.53 in the medium team division with a 97.53, nudging out six-time state champ Lemont, which posted a 96.87. The Bengals also won in 2015. They finished runner-up in 2019 and 2020.
Lockport won its third title overall and first in the coed division with a 98.20. The Porters won large-division titles in 2007 and 2008.
Another change was the announcement of the champions. Under normal circumstances, state final teams would form a circle, sit on the floor, hold hands and close their eyes during the dramatic announcements.
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This year, East athletes sat in the school’s auditorium, formed a circle, held hands and closed their eyes while a Zoom meeting with nine other teams was shown from a projector.
“It was so suspenseful because we turned our tape in on Thursday and had to wait all day Friday and half the day on Saturday to find out,” Goodman said. “They usually announce the top three but this year they announced the 10 teams on Zoom. Once they called the second-place team, we knew we won. It was crazy. It was the best feeling ever after waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting.”
Griffins coach Jayson Polad was not sure a sixth title was going to be in the cards.
“Half of our team were athletes who were new to varsity,” he said. “Usually they would have eight months to acclimate themselves to the pressures and expectations of being on such a high level team. These kids had six weeks. Some of them were freshmen and had never been a part of the program before. That could be very overwhelming and a lot to handle. But they came through it like champions.”
Members of the Griffin squad are seniors Alyssa Goodman, Grace Karana, Alexa Selvaggio, Tiffani Gergely and Leah Ortiz; juniors Chloe Friend, Kylen Boundas, Alexis Chiuccariello, Emily Caruso, Caroline Roney, Sophia Barnard, Megan O’Connor and Marissa Mangin; sophomores Emily LaVelle, London McClellan, Lauren Ristich, Kaitlyn Regnier and Lauren Vander Kooi and freshmen Courtney Marneris, Ava Hacker, Allie Collins, Gwen Drechsel and Anastasia Nakos.
Lockport coach Jenny Krumlinde, who was on a national championship-winning team at Louisville, knew she would have her work cut out for her this season.
“The hardest thing to adjust to with the virtual format was the lack of team bonding,” she said. “We had a lot of new people on varsity this year that did not know each other. Usually, we spend all day either on a bus, or at the competition, or waiting for awards. There was significantly less time spent getting to know each other and bonding the way the kids do on a normal competition day.”
The Porters got through it all and claimed the top prize in the state.
“This team never gave up and was all in from day one. Even when we weren’t allowed to practice in person, they showed up for virtual practices and conditioned and worked on tumbling on their own,” she said. “When we got to come back together, they were in decent shape because of the work they put in and we were able to still execute difficult skills very well.”
Members of the Porter squad are seniors Jaida Bender, Isabella Giertuga, Elyssa Pickett-Klimek, Marissa Pasco, and Grady Travis; juniors Hannah Boetscher, Alyssa Catemis and Ashley Leeney; sophomores Nya Ditter, Alivia Czaplicki, Ava Judge, Grace Kelly, Amber LaMorte, Jake McEntee, Megan Mecher, Isabelle Purpura, Madison Seymour, Jessica Vanerka, and Lexi Wrona and freshmen Alyssa Connell, Nina Fiorillo, Grace Gad, Bianca Richie and Emme Sweis.
Oak Forest coach Christine DiVenti called this “one of the most stressful, sleepless seasons” striving for the perfect video, even though the coach said the word “perfection” is forbidden in the Bengals’ gym.
“This year competing virtually was so different because typically you put a routine out on the floor and whatever happens good or bad gets left there,” she said. “Now we were recording and we could record over. There is no such thing as perfection — but you get caught up in trying to achieve it.”
They didn’t capture the perfection of 100 but that 97.53 was pretty close. She listed several reasons this year’s team was special.
“To be a bit cliché, I believe their grit, the traditions of our program, their humility, the way they support and lift each other up through the mental struggles that we have found come along with being a student during a pandemic,” she said. “Most importantly, I believe their gratitude to have something back that they were not sure they would get back this year. Being together, doing what they love with the people they love.”
Members of the Bengals squad are seniors Reagan Leigh Albin, Abigail Baugh, Paige Eperjesi, Melina Hernandez, Codie Hoop and Taylor Lutz; junior Carter Boger; sophomores Maddie Brankin, Eva Campbell, Katie Everitt, Jessica Gron, Colleen McMaster, Madelyn Ozminkowski, Teegan Straniero and Trinity Wanda and freshmen Zoe Gatto, April Kleber and Jessica Munoz.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.