Some do not believe that cheerleading is a sport. They think it is just a bunch of girls who like to get dressed up in uniforms and cheer the football or basketball teams on to victory. Although that is half of cheerleading, there is another key part of it: competition cheering. One thing is for certain—it is intense. My girlfriend’s little sister is a competition cheerleader. She’s only 10 years old and just finishing up 4^th grade, but she can do all of the tricks better than most people I know! Their routines are meticulously choreographed, and everything has to be perfect. These are the standards Chardon follows, even for the younger cheerleaders. Aside from that, Chardon’s competition cheerleading team is one of the best. Actually, it’s the best team in the United States and has been for two years!

Chardon’s team has 17 stars in it including seniors Kasey Eichele, Lauren Molnar, Kaylee O’Donnell and Brianna Patrick, juniors Alicia Tilocco, Jacqui Prince, Carley Maruna, Marena Loos, Kayla Bolden and Madison Hess, sophomores Courtney Kernc, Katie Petersen, Kara Altman, Izzy Baker, and Kaleigh Smith, and freshman Shae Eichele, and Haley Frank. Last year, the girls traveled to Florida and won the Grand National Championship, or basically the whole competition. This year, on April 15^th, they departed to Kissimmee, Florida to try and win the competition again. The team had full confidence in winning a second time in a row.

Junior Carley Maruna says, “We were very prepared and our coach trained us very well. We had no fear going in there. We were going to win.” The team arrived in Florida a couple of days later, since they took a bus down to the competition. One more little fact about this was that the team fundraised money for the bus just to go!

Florida: known for its great weather and oranges. Sadly, the team only got one of these. The weather during the trip was nowhere near ideal. There were only sunny days once or twice, the rest filled with rain and clouds. It is fortunate that the routines are done inside. However, the weather did not bring down the cheerleader’s spirits. They were there for one reason; to win.

The team’s favorite time at the competition was probably winning, but there were also many other things the girls had fun doing down in Florida. Senior Lauren Molnar commented, “Going out to dinner with the team was my favorite part about the trip. It’s definitely a bonding experience every time.”

Finally the day of competition arrived. On April 18^th, the competition started for Chardon. They gave it their best, which turned out to be overall best, even in the eyes of the judges. Over the two day competition, Chardon won Grand National Champion again. This is the first time our team has ever won a national competition like this twice in a row! Junior Marena Loos is not completely satisfied yet, adding, “You have to three-peat!”

It is awesome that the team won, but this is the last competition for the senior cheerleaders, Kaylee, Kasey, Lauren, and Brianna. Although the team has many good juniors, sophomores, and freshman, next year our team will have to adapt to fit the incoming eighth graders. Sophomore Courtney Kernc said, “From what I’ve seen, the eighth graders coming in next year are amazing at cheerleading, some of them doing stuff our team can’t do yet! It’s going to be difficult to hold a spot on this grand champion team!”

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