By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
Jr. Midgets cheerleaders head to nationals after second place at regional championship
The 33 members of the Hillsborough Dukes Jr. Midget cheer squad sat on the floor of Trenton’s Sun Center National Bank Arena (formerly the Sovereign Bank Arena) on Nov. 21, holding hands and nervously waiting to hear the judges’ scoring on one of their biggest competitors, Watchung.
When it was announced Watchung had been awarded fifth place, several of the Hillsborough girls began crying, knowing they had done better and that their hard work would give them a chance to compete in a national competition.
”It was very intense,” Kristen Mazuera, Dukes cheerleading head coach, said of waiting for the announcement.
And then the celebration began as, with a second-place victory of just two hundredths of a point behind the top spot, the Hillsborough Dukes Jr. Midget cheer squad qualified to compete at the Pop Warner Little Scholars 2009 National Cheer & Dance Championships, which will be held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex, in Florida, Dec. 9.
”The girls were jumping and screaming and crying when they announced that we were second place,” Ms. Mazuera said of the awards ceremony held at the end of the competition at Sovereign Bank Arena, in Trenton. “It was unbelievable. These girls have worked so hard, and they have learned how hard work does pay off.”
The Hillsborough team, which is made up of 33 girls in grades five through eight, took their second-place position after competing against 11 other squads throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland in the Jr. Midget Large Novice Division.
For Julianna Shortino, 13, it was a great moment to qualify for the national competition in her final year on the team. She said it was her goal all along to make it this far, and she is thrilled to finally have the opportunity.
”When they started getting closer to announcing second place, I was getting more excited because I knew how good we did,” she said. “(When they called our team), I jumped up and started crying. It was really great.”
Fourteen-year-old Annette Bielen, who is also in her last year performing with the team, said she is very happy with their accomplishments.
”It felt really good,” said Annette, who joined the team two years ago. “I was lucky to get this far in my last year.”
In getting to this point, the squad first performed at a local competition in Bridgewater, after which they moved on to the qualifying round, held in Trenton, Ms. Mazuera said. From there, she said, the top squads moved on to the November regional competitions, where the Hillsborough team qualified to compete for the national title.
In each section of the competition, Ms. Mazuera said, the girls performed a routine they had been working on since the season began in August, and which was choreographed by Hillsborough High School seniors and former Dukes cheerleaders Jennifer Fedak, Alex Mazzarese, Amanda Maikisch and Lauren Roman.
After each competition, Ms. Mazuera said, they would tweak the routine a little, based on judges’ comments about jumps, tumbling, technique, choreography, overall appearance and other categories. During competitions, judges give numerical scores in each of these categories, then add them together for the team’s final score.
”We discussed the critiques and tweaked the routine,” she said. “It has evolved over time. We loved the routine at the beginning, but each time we changed it, we loved it even more.”
Julianna said the competition was intimidating because she really wanted to qualify for nationals, but she was excited to be able to perform the routine.
”I enjoyed everything, (especially) being able to show off our routine and how far we’ve come,” she said.
The two-and-a-half minute routine, Ms. Mazuera said, uses music centered on a jungle theme, with a combination of such songs as “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Eye of the Tiger.”
The routine, Annette said, was great, with a combination of stunts, tumbling, jumps and cheers throughout. She said she was really nervous before getting out onto the stage, but once she was there, in front of about 3,000 people, she was just excited to be performing.
”We really got into the routine,” she said.
But the win in the regional competition which Ms. Mazuera said featured about 110 teams in total, and 11 in the same division as the Dukes cheerleaders marks the second time the team has qualified for the national competition in Disney World, the first time being in 2004.
”It’s such an accomplishment to get to Disney,” she said, adding that it took dedication from the cheerleaders and her other coaches, Patty Levonaitis, Linda Hudak and Susan Van Pelt. “I want each of these girls to realize how proud we are of them.”
In the national competition, Ms. Mazuera said, the team will be performing against about 11 others in their division. The competition itself, she said, splits the teams into categories for Novice, Intermediate and Advanced, then splits those into large and small divisions.
”Our’s is a small grouping,” she said of the large Novice division.
For Annette, she is not nervous about the upcoming performance, just excited to perform and represent Hillsborough.
”We had happy tears because we were so amazed (that we qualified),” she said. “I am looking forward to winning and having a good time.”
Julianna said she is also not nervous about the upcoming competition, but is just excited to try and beat South Plainfield, which came in first at the recent competitions and has been the “team that has kept beating us.”
”I am excited to show how far we’ve come,” she said. “We have practices, and I stretch every day. And I have all my Mickey Mouse stuff ready to bring.”
The Dukes cheerleaders hold signups in February and April, with the season beginning Aug. 1. Over the summer, Ms. Mazuera said, they hold practices four days a week, dropping to three once school starts.
”The kids love it, and they look forward to the nights in August,” she said. “They have a great time.”
But to be allowed to remain in the organization, Ms. Mazuera said, Pop Warner nationally requires participants to maintain at least a 70 average in school. More than half of the Hillsborough students, she said, maintain a 96 average.
”Academics are very important,” Ms. Mazuera said.
Annette said she will miss her teammates and coaches once she is out of the age range of the team next year.
”My friend was on the team, so I joined because I thought it would be a fun experience,” she said. “But I am always going to be on the team in my heart.”
Although she is planning to try out for the high school cheerleading team, Julianna said she will miss seeing her friends and going to the competitions with the Dukes team.
”I am going to miss the 2009 Dukes Jr. Midget cheer squad,” she said. “I am very proud to be on this team.”
With the preparations continuing for next week’s competition, Ms. Mazuera said she is just proud of the work the girls have done, and is looking forward to the opportunity to compete.
”They do a lot of work, but they have learned that the hard work is what pays off,” she said. “I want these girls to know they can do it. They should be proud of where they have gotten, and how far they have come.”
