By: Sean Moylan
With the success of the fall program, the Robbinsville High varsity cheerleading squad has only grown for the winter season.
"There are a lot of girls who are taking in the new girls on the squad (under their wings)," noted Jessica Toth, the head coach of the Robbinsville cheerleading squad. "A lot of the new girls are freshmen. We created a lot of interest."
16 of the 23 girls on Robbinsville’s cheerleading squad are on the competition squad. This winter the competition squad will compete twice. On December 16th the Robbinsville competition squad will compete in the Garden State Classic, which is run by the American Cheer and Dance Academy, at the Sovereign Bank Arena.
"It’s approaching quickly. We have our competition routine," said Toth, who, with a little help from her friends and things she picked up in camps, comes up with the new cheers herself. "The competition squad has extra practices."
Robbinsville is also scheduled to compete in a competition at Bridgewater-Raritan High School on January 28th. But the competitions are just a small part of what the Ravens do. This winter they are scheduled to cheer for both the boys’ and the girls’ varsity basketball teams. They’ll cheer in the stands throughout the games. Moreover, they’ve gotten together with the Dance Club to put together a special halftime routine.
Hilary Barker, Taylor Cortina and Alyssa Flocco are all junior captains on the squad. The other juniors on the team are Amy Diefenbach, Brittany English, Erin Hayes, Brittany Ives, Gabby Matuzsan, Trudi Newmark and Caitlyn Stephens.
Alexa Elias, Alex Gharghoury, Ella Johnson, Sara Sowards and Elizabeth Sukhra are the sophomores. And Kaitlyn Brakel, Raquel Concepcion, Alyssa Estaban, Amanda Faille, Helen Harcharek, Alexis Kasper, Lauren Lugossy and Jaqueline Wladich are the freshman cheerleaders.
"The girls work hard and have been training," said Toth.
Many of the cheerleaders were so dedicated they worked out on their own over the Thanksgiving break just to stay in shape for the upcoming season. Robbinsville is dedicated to having the best cheerleading team possible and Jessica Toth plays a huge role in that. It should be a great winter season of varsity cheerleading at Robbinsville.

