Finish best-ever 19th at nationals
By: Rudy Brandl
The Hillsborough girls certainly weren’t intimidated by the big-time atmosphere of the National High School Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, Fla.
Although they didn’t win a national title, the girls returned to New Jersey feeling like champions after completing their best performance ever at the biggest event on their calendar.
Hillsborough qualified for the national semifinals for the first time in school history in the Small Varsity Division. The HHS girls missed advancing to the finals by a handful of schools and wound up being ranked 19th out of 124 teams.
That outstanding finish, which translates to being rated in the top 15 percent in the country, gave Hillsborough coach Jodie Yarasheski a feeling of tremendous pride.
"It was a great experience and it’s the best we’ve ever done down there," Yarasheski said. "They were amazing to watch. I’ve never seen our squad perform like that. It was a phenomenal trip from beginning to end."
This year’s squad endured its share of hardships en route to the national stage. Several key injuries affected the team, but the girls never stopped working toward their goal.
"These girls have so much heart," Yarasheski said. "Everything that they’ve gone through made them so much stronger and built so much character. That’s why they were able to finish on such a high note."
Hillsborough’s national team consisted of senior captains Meghan Ludvigsen and Jackie Mancino, seniors Lauren Mangarelli and Victoria Vitale, juniors Kathleen Drake, Michele Herman, Adrienne Lingg and Ashley Tebinka, sophomores Carly Bock, Anne Cannon, Emily Ferrer and Stacie Pancoast and freshmen Marissa Balzano, Renee Crivello, Jessica Fedroff, Alissa Schofield, Courtney Siegel and Alicia Swickle.
"We all got along so well and we all wanted the same thing," said Mancino, referring to the team’s special chemistry. "We worked together and we did a lot of team bonding things together. We wanted it more for each other."
The girls finished seventh in their group during the preliminary round to qualify for the semifinals. Yarasheski was impressed with her team’s execution of the Diamond Head, a difficult stunt usually reserved for co-ed teams.
"It was so strong," the coach said. "There was so much energy and personality on that mat. These girls are so talented. They were doing more difficult stunts than we’ve ever done in the past."
"When we were out on the floor, I couldn’t wait to do the Diamond Head," Vitale added. "No one else has that, so I was really excited to show everyone that and stick it. I knew that we would make (the semifinals) after that. Once you hit the Diamond Head, you know you’ve stuck the routine."
The combination of Hillsborough’s perseverance, dedication and athletic talent produced a well-deserved reward. The seniors will never forget their final national competition.
"This definitely made it the best year ever," Mangarelli said. "We nailed the routine and it was a great way to end senior year."
"It couldn’t have ended a better way," Ludvigsen added. "It was definitely the icing on the cake."