By Katie Wagner, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY — Hard work, team unity and love for the sport are what Montgomery Wildcats Midgets cheerleading squad members attributed to their achievement of a national championship.
The cheerleaders are members of the Pop Warner Montgomery Youth Football and Cheer Association. The Midgets classification is Pop Warner’s oldest age group and tends to include students in grades seven through nine. The Wildcats spent the first half of their season cheering on the Montgomery Midgets football team and the second half performing in cheerleading competitions. They concluded their season Dec. 7 with a first-place finish in the Pop Warner National Competition in the Midgets, Novice category at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla.
The team of about 30 girls, which began practicing in August with two-hour sessions, four days a week, maintained the intensity of their training up to the very end of their season.
After advancing to the second round in this year’s Pop Warner competition, the girls weren’t satisfied.
”When we had our first competition in Bridgewater, we had a totally different routine and music,” said Logan Mayo, a 14-year-old member of the team who’s been a Wildcat cheerleader for nine years.
After deciding their routine wasn’t hard enough, the girls worked to create a more difficult 2-minute and 30-second routine to a New Jersey-themed medley of songs.
”We took one stunt that had just been a big pyramid and took it to the next level,” said Faye Campeas, one of the team’s assistant coaches. “We made it into a great big wheel that required the girls to move without being able to look where they were going. That’s got a lot of crowd appeal. And we changed the ending to a straddle sit.”
Even during the days leading up to the national competition in Orlando, the girls practiced their routine. The extra practicing was something they had neglected last year — the first time they had made it to nationals, finishing third in the Junior Midgets novice category.
”We worked very hard since the beginning. I think people just worked harder and were more dedicated this year,” said Emily Campeas, an eighth-grader, who’s been a Montgomery Pop Warner cheerleader for nine years.
She added, “I think what really impressed the judges was the pizzazz we had and how we can perform, which is what the other teams, I think, were missing. Once we get out there, everybody’s smiling and just looks like they’re having a great time.”
Other team members touted the group’s ability to act as one unit on and off the mat.
”It’s kind of like a whole family now, because we’ve been together for so long,” said Ali Stagnitta, an eighth-grader on the team.
She added, “Montgomery is full of drama, but when we go to cheerleading practice it all goes away. If we’d tell some of the newer girls on the team to be a little sharper, they wouldn’t get mad.”
The team’s love for cheerleading was another reason the girls felt they were so successful.
”Just learning a new routine each year and perfecting it is exciting, plus you get to be with your friends,” Emily said.
Ali added, “We love cheering, and it shows!”
What made the victory especially sweet for the squad was that many of its members had been Wildcats since the first year Montgomery offered Pop Warner cheerleading — 1999.
”This was the inaugural group,” Ms. Campeas said. “We thought going out with a bang was the right way for the first group to make it this far to finish.”

