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Sports

Notre Dame Cheer Program Wins National Contest

Tigers claim title in Large Varsity Show Cheer division at USA Championships in Anaheim; relatively new program has blossomed into powerhouse with second straight national crown.

The Notre Dame High School cheerleaders were tense, to say the least. The final standings in the Large Varsity Show Cheer (Novice) division were being announced at the United Spirit Association Championships in Anaheim on Mar. 27 and only two squads hadn't been named – the Tigers and Novato.

“I was pretty confident,” Notre Dame junior Zoe Groff said. “But when I heard that the team that was in second place the day before that they did really well, I thought, 'OK, maybe we'll get second.'

"Our whole team, our coaches, we were kind of set on second.”

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Instead, Novato was the next team named, in second place. That left only Notre Dame and first place. It also left the cheerleaders a mess.

“When they announced the second-place team, we all just started crying and screaming,” Groff said. “It was crazy. Best feeling ever. Especially when you're not expecting it.”

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It was the second consecutive year the Notre Dame team won the division. The cheer program has become a powerhouse thanks to the hard work of everyone involved. But there wasn't even a cheer program at the school until 1999 when Pam Stilleson was asked to start it by then-athletic director Chris Miller. The original intent was to find an adviser for the squad, which would cheer at the basketball games.

“Cheer coaches are hard to come by and we just couldn't find one,” Stilleson said. So he just said, “Why don't you try to do it?'”

In 2002, Stilleson added Morgan Craig as an assistant coach and choreographer. Later, Mario Crespin joined as another assistant coach. The squad began entering competitions during the 2003-04 school year.

Cheerleading competitions incorporate some of the moves you see on the sidelines at football and basketball games. But they are much more stunt intense, with a lot crammed into two-and-a-half minutes. Notre Dame senior Laura Forsythe explained what she does in those 150 seconds. She's what is known as a back spot. Other positions are bases and fliers, with the former lifting up the latter.

“This year, I opened in a stunt,” Forsythe said. “I help drive up the stunt along with the bases. From my stunt, the entire team goes into the jump section. We do two jumps consecutively. There's a little bit of tumbling after the jumps, then we go into the first pyramid.

“Each stunt group goes into their own stunt groups, we call them little pods. I back a heel stretch. From that heel stretch, we go into the cheer portion. I help base a half-liberty. Then, I go front spot another stunt. Then, I get one of the signs from the flier. I do a little bit of sign work, try and get the crowd involved, pumped up for the rest of the routine. Then, we go into our dance portion. We have some choreography there. Then, we go into the last pyramid, which is the last portion of the routine.”

Out of breath? Remember, you have to smile the whole routine through. Forsythe said the coaches reminded the team of that fact before the finals.

“Even though you’re dying and you need oxygen, you have to smile,” she said the coaches told the team.

As for the future, senior Vianca Rivas said she plans to continue her cheering career at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. The former basketball player moved to cheering in high school – her height of 5-foot-2 had something to do with the decision – and fell in love with the sport.

“I want to keep this going,” Rivas said. “I have so much passion for this. Another new experience. It's going to be interesting to start over with new teammates.”

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Notre Dame cheerleading team: Courtney Nichol, Vianca Rivas, Laura Forsythe, Anna Lippert, Janet Lee, Meaghan Manos, Heather Milestone, Zoe Groff, Heather Holley, Meagan Chin, Leslie Montano, Kahea Ryan, Rebecca DeLuna, Lisette Palafox, Allie Winkler, Lauren Guidotti, Danielle Jow, Angela Bottarini, Rachel Blanton, Emily Whitlatch

Coaches: Pam Stilleson, Morgan Craig, Mario Crespin

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