By: Kyle Moylan
The Florence Pee Wee and Midget cheerleading squads both placed first at the Burlington County Dance & Cheering Competitions, held this past Saturday at Burlington County College.
The Florence Mitey Mite squad also had a tremendous day of competition, but their level is still at the exhibition stage.
The Pee Wees and Midgets performed so well that they will both be in action again this Saturday at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton. The Florence Pee Wee squad performs at 10:48 a.m. The Florence Midget squad performs at 2:24 p.m. Each routine is 2 minutes and 30 seconds long. The schedule for the entire day is listed on the Internet at www.easternregion.org. Click on Oct. 30th.
The Burlington County Dance & Cheering Competition is a yearly event where the towns of Delran, Cinnaminson, New Egypt, Hamilton, Riverside, Rancocus Valley, Palmyra, Fort Dix and Florence compete for Pop Warner Championships.
The Florence Pee Wees came in as the defending champions, led by coach Amy Muchowski and her assistants Kathi Killian, Veronica Destasio, Melissa Destasio, Nicole Moreno and Dawn Leip.
"When we started practicing in August, they knew they had to work to take first place," Muchowski noted. "Each year all the local teams that compete improve, but so do we. Its true Florence tradition for kids to practice hard, perform well and come out on top. Those of us from Florence know this. My girls this year struggled all season during practice. The week before competition they came together as a team to earn first place."
Muchowski was helped out a great deal by having a veteran squad. There were 16 girls back from last year’s championship team and 11 new to the squad. The girls on the team are: Jessica Bell, Shelby Blackwell, Emily Bockius, Emily Britton, Caitlin Buddie, Jade Caruso, Kristen Cliver, Casey Cuyugen, Angela Destasio, Jennifer Eckley, Lauren Eckley, Grace Erlston, Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Jordan, Kacie Kellerman, Nicole Kilian, Samantha Leip, Brittany Logan, Tiffanie Longberry, Zana McKinney, Alexandra Morris, Brielle Myers, Hailey Parker, Jesse Robertson, Meghan Sturak, Alyssa Taylor and Bryana Voorhees.
The Midget, coming off a second-place finish in 2003, responded with a championship effort as well this time around.
"The 2003 second place finishing squad showed their focus and will to improve," noted Paul Fletcher, the President of Florence Pop Warner. "Having seen the mistakes made by the prior squads, this team rallied around their hard work and practice commitment to perform a near flawless routine that set everyone back on their heals."
The Midgets are coached by Celeste Onoroi, with Sherry Rein and Sheila Braun serving as her assistants. Members of the team are: Kate Behrend, Kimberly Benti, Taylor Bintliff-Green, Deborah Beach, Jessica Popso, Sarah Schnoering, Ashley Boettger, Nicole Braun, Holly Deptula, Laura Gallagher, Nacyra Grant, Deprise Hawkins, Shalita Henderson, Katelyn Hofing, Heather Hutchison, Emily Ivins, Reba Kramer, Stephanie Krause, Amanda Jo Laux, Mirranda Lipsett, Chelsea Onori, Sara Rein, Andrea Reyes, Ashley Roache, Melissa Rossi, Zipporah Rutledge, Kristine Semptimphelter, Christie Swart, Amber Tardiff, Tyler Tetoski, Sara Wolff, Elizabeth Wuelfing and Candan Yilmaz.
According to Fletcher, the Mitey Mites also were the best team at their level. This group of girls will have to wait until they get older to advance on to such venues as Sovereign Bank Arena, though.
The Mitey Mites are coached by Kim Betsko, with Gwen Parker and Toni DeLorenzo serving as assistants. Katelyn Eells and Nicole Eckley are the student demonstrators. Members of the team are: Tyler Alvarez, Deanna Arzola, Erin Betsko, Chyenne Bower, Crystal Brodbeck, Vanessa Burwell, Caitlin Carey, Jessica Delorenzo, Rachel Estelow, Gina Ficarotta, Jillian Furth, Kristen Gaynor, Madeline Horner, Taylor Hutchinson, Rachel Klenk, Mary Jane Levenduski, Caitlin Mahony, Taylor Matey, Kacie McNamara, Nicole Myslinski, Emily Parker, Shelby Reed, TaWana Stayton and Tianna Tucker.
Florence also has a team for little girls, 65 pounds and under. This team works under the guidance of Coach Teresa Belland, this team is learning and will be ready when their chance to compete comes.
Betsey Coney is the cheer coordinator and Lynn Anzuini serves as the commissioner for all the teams.
"I am very proud of our teams accomplishment and appreciate all the support and hard work from those who make this happen," Fletcher said. "Without our volunteer coaching staff and junior coaches, the above could not be accomplished."
