Mahopac High Cheerleading Squad Celebrates National Championship
News Article Article pages that do not meet specifications for other Trust Project Type of Work labels and also do not fit within the general news category.
Mahopac School District staff and faculty gathered alongside students and community members last week to welcome back the varsity cheerleading team after the squad won a national championship at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.
The team had a daunting task ahead of them when they arrived in Dallas and saw the size of the arena, the crowd, and the hundreds of other cheer teams present from around the country.
“It was a two-day event. We got there at noon on both days because I wanted the team to get used to the arena and to support other New York teams that we knew,” coach Jasmine DeCosmo said. “Then we performed our two-minute-and-30-second routine. I knew that they had it in them, I was a little nervous about the big lights and the pressure, but I knew that they were prepared and that they could do it.”
After months of practicing and working just to get an invitation to the national competition, everything culminated in two, two-and-a half-minute-long performances. When asked how the routines went, DeCosmo simply said, “No deductions, both days.”
After the first day, the pressure was on since the team knew that they were in first place in their division. When the time came for the second performance, the team sought to replicate the previous day’s success. Cheerleader Kate Conklin spoke about the moments immediately after their second performance.
“We all hugged each other and went to our coaches,” Conklin said, “and they said that we did really well. That really completed it because they’re always honest with us. The feeling of watching the recording of our performance was indescribable. I was so happy, there were so many good emotions. We really felt like we secured it.”
Some members of the team have been cheering at Mahopac for over a decade, and the national championship was a crowning achievement for the team’s graduating seniors, like team captain Jamie Genario.
“Mahopac has always had a great environment for cheer; you always feel the love from the people around you,” Genario said. “What makes this win so special is all of the support, not only from our parents and teammates, but from the town and school as well. It was an amazing feeling to come home to an escort from police and fire and then to see so many people from the community and from all of the schools waiting for us at the high school.”
This is a press release provided by the organization. It has been lightly edited and is being published by Examiner Media as a public service.
Examiner Media – Keeping you informed with professionally-reported local news, features, and sports coverage.
