Jack Zhang ’14
EE Co-Editor
If you are one of those daring enough to suggest “Cheerleading isn’t a sport, “then you’ve clearly haven’t seen THS cheerleaders in their FCIAC competition. Tell that to Trumbull High Varsity Cheerleaders who have recently placed top tier with their performance.
This year their theme was “The Girls are Back,” a reflection of the fact that they are now competing in the all-girl portion of the competition. Last year, they competed in the coed division because of a male member of the team.
According to team member Destiny Powell, “Everyone knows Trumbull High as a school that does well in Coed but we had to really push ourselves to show them that we had what it takes to win in both divisions.” The All Girl division is usually considered more difficult because of the sheer number of teams competition and the level of competition within the division.
Every routine involves stunting, tumbling, jumping, a pyramid, and a dance. One of the more difficult stunts is known as a switch up where the person in the air starts on their left leg when thrown up in the air and caught on her right leg.
Over the summer, they practiced with the Crossfit, a dual weightlifting and running program, to make them strong enough to perform the moves required for the competition.
Most people only get a glimpse of their true talent. According to Courtney Arison, “The routines we did for the pep rally and at halftime during the football games are pretty easy; we put it together pretty quickly whereas competition routines take weeks to put together and get perfect.”
And then the moment came when the score was announced.
Trumbull had placed 2nd among all the teams in the All Girls division, earning 160 points, just .3 shy of winning the championships.
Nevertheless, it was a huge accomplishment.
When the scores were announced Captain Jessica Pikikero said, “This year is probably the most action packed routine Trumbull Cheer has ever had. It involves a lot of elite tumbling, stunting, and jumps. I was really proud of my team because we worked so hard this season for that moment.”
Arison agreed, and added, “With our score at FCIAC we would’ve been first in the coed division. We were able to have the second highest score out of every single team that competed – coed, all girl, and JV.”
At States they will be facing their biggest challenge yet, facing against 24 teams in the All-Girls division. Trumbull will face off against other LL division schools, the largest league, on (insert date)