Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home’s competition cheer squad is looking to repeat last year’s successful quest for a state title.
Coming off their third state championship since 2007, the 2012 Huskies are a veteran group.
Only two members, seniors Karese and Shalese Mancuso, are new to competitive cheer, and they have competitive dance experience.
Sweet Home lost five seniors to graduation, including Jordyn Price, Kendra Whaley, Desiree McCormick, Kellie Pollock and Carii Syfert, so the team will be a little smaller as no freshmen tried out this year, said Coach Amber Rosa. Last year, the program took a year off from the junior high club cheer.
“We have smaller numbers, but we have more experience,” Rosa said. The team will compete with 15 cheerleaders, with five more ready to compete.
“It’s also made our routine really strong,” Rosa said. New this year will be a 360-degree corkscrew, with a change in the rules that allows cheerleaders’ heads to go over their heels.
The team will use a “power press,” which is really difficult, Rosa said. It looks easy, but it’s tough to pull off. The judges know that, and it scores well.
Double downs are out of the routine with rule changes, Rosa said, but the team is adjusting well.
“We are really feeling first place with everything we’ve put up, and winning state with the additions, we should be able to do it again,” Rosa said.
The Huskies will compete in the 4A Large division unless enough teams fail to show for both 4A Small and 4A Large, in which case they will be combined.
In 4A Large, Brookings Harbor is the Huskies’ toughest competition, Rosa said, while South Umpqua also did well last year.
In 4A Small, North Marion has dominated for the past six years, Rosa said, but the Sweet Home Huskies can compete with Huskies to the north.
The team should perform clean routines with difficult stunts, Rosa said. Execution scores higher than difficulty, and this team is good at execution.
“We really concentrate on that, all the little things the judges pick apart,” Rosa said.
Off the court, the team has struggled with grades in the past, she said, and that’s something it’s focused on improving this year. On the court, the Huskies lowest scores have been their jumps, and they’re working on bringing those scores up.
Practice is going well, Rosa said. The team’s first competition was scheduled for Jan. 5, but they canceled because the team had difficulty getting everyone to practice over Christmas vacation.
“Christmas break is really hard for us,” Rosa said. “Somebody’s out of the state, somebody’s sick.”
They usually hit the practices hard after the break, she said.
Typically, there is a full week of school and practice before the first competition, but the way it was scheduled this year didn’t give them that chance. Their first competition will be at Springfield High School this Saturday, Jan. 12.
Team members are: seniors Breanna Froemke, Sadie Gordon, Samantha Lawrence, Karese Mancuso, Shalese Mancuso, Autumn Martin, Lindsey Martin, Mariah Morneault, and Taylor Thorpe; juniors Kaelee Almy, Kalynn Hagle, Christina Jenkins and Kaitlyn Watts; and sophomores Emma Fitzsimons, Samantha McMahand, Alex Olin, Adriana Perez, Madison Seth, Caitlyn Spencer, Natalie Thorpe and Kelsie Zartman.