By Janet Church
On November 9th, the Montgomery Wildcat Pop Warner Midget Level Cheerleaders won first place at the Eastern Regional Cheer Competition in Trenton and a bid to compete at the National Competition at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida in December.
Prior to the Regional win, the team placed first at the Jersey Valley Conference, and first at the New Jersey State Competition.
Coaches Christine Ark and Renee DePinto aren’t novices in the National competition arena. Along with coach Lauren Panasiewicz, they coached most of the 8th grade girls on this year’s team twice before to first place wins at Nationals, in 2011 and 2013.
Says Coach Christine Ark, “This is a phenomenal group of girls that have been cheering together for many years, several as long as 9 years. They have grown up together, and have learned to work together as a team, and help each other out — all for betterment of the team. Most importantly, they are friends on the mat, and off the mat. We are so proud to be with these girls the past 9 years!”
Coach Renee DePinto adds, “We are a big family. We will miss them after the season is over. We have always had the next season to look forward to, but now that they are moving on to HS, will find new endeavors and new successes.”
The members of the Midget team in alphabetical order are: Jillian Ark, Gabby Barish, Caroline Beschner, Melanie Bet, Elizabeth Church, Nikki DePinto, Malia Drift, Abby Holanda, Carolyn Maslanka, Brianne Quinlan, Brooke Regensburg, Nicole Ruckelshaus, Ashley Turlip, Chilly Wallace, Sanaa Riley-Waller and Sontee Riley-Waller. Student demonstrators are Allyssa Ark, Caitlyn Ark and Abby Bickel.
There’s still opportunity to help offset the costs of the trip to Orlando. For more information on sponsoring the team, contact: [email protected].

