MORAVIA #- While the boys of the Moravia Junior Tackle Youth Football team were busy making history with an undefeated season, the girls of the senior division cheerleading squad were busy making some history of their own.
On Nov. 5, the girls brought home the first place trophy as well as the most spirited squad award from the annual competition in Dryden.
“We had a lot of spirit,” said Megan Mondics, 13. “All the parents were dressed in blue and white and they were all excited. It felt really good. I'm really happy we did so well.”
Starting in September the girls gathered and began putting in long hours rehearsing moves and beginning to build a routine.
“A lot of them have been together for a few years now,” coach Julie Lawrence said. “So they work really well together. After about three weeks of practice we started working on our routine for this and they put in a lot of time.”
All the years they have spent together has proven to be a great asset to what the girls do while performing.
“All that time has helped us to learn to get along really well,” said Lawrence's daughter Elizabeth, 11, who has been on the team for four years. “We are like sisters and I think that helps a lot that we are so close.”
They carry this closeness with them whether they are competing or not and that has helped them to be able to build a great team working relationship.
“Except for two of us, we are all in the same grade,” said Jolene Betts, 13. “It helps us know what to do as a squad and know what else is going on with each other, so if we are working on something we can take each other aside and work on making certain things better.”
This season the girls had an added bonus with a little help from Union Springs High School cheerleader Julie Hewitt, who came in to assist the girls with the creation of their routine.
“Julie helped so much,” Lawrence said. “She came in and really helped us get our routine together and I think the girls really enjoyed working with her. I think her help made it a lot of fun for them.”
Taylor Wilkinson, 11, said Hewitt's help was invaluable, working with the girls on every aspect of their performance.
“She brought in dance moves,” Wilkinson said. “She choreographed a lot of things for us to learn and we really did learn a lot from her.”
But Hewitt and Lawrence did leave room for the girls to be creative and express themselves.
“It all depended on how everyone felt,” Mondics said. “If everyone didn't like something we would change it so we got a lot of input into what we did.”
Throughout the course of the season the girls stayed hard at work cheering at the football games and dedicating several nights a week to practices, getting ready for Dryden.
But even all the practice in the world couldn't settle their nerves on competition day.
“It was a pretty big competition,” Wilkinson said. “I was very nervous before we got started, but once we got out there and I saw everybody cheering for us it got better.”
The girls performed a three-minute routine that was a dance and cheer combination, which they pulled off with flying colors.
“They did a fantastic job,” Lawrence said. “They got out there and they did an incredible performance, it was great to see them do so well.”
The thrill of hitting the floor and seeing a crowd full of people dressed in the team colors was an extraordinary lift for the girls.
“We were really fired up,” Elizabeth Lawrence said. “Seeing everyone there made me feel pretty confident that we could do pretty good after all the hard work we put in all season getting ready.”
The girls also had some added supporters in the form of the Moravia High School cheerleaders.
“I think they really liked that,” Lawrence said. “They invited us to one of their competitions and they came out to ours and were there cheering our girls on and I think that made it something a little extra special for all of them to have those girls there.”
All the support from the family and fans, all the hard work, all of it culminated in the girls walking away with the first place trophy and an incredibly exhilarating feeling.
“It was a really fun competition,” Wilkinson said. “It was very exciting, but it was even more exciting that we won. I don't think I'll ever forget this.”
“We had a lot of spirit,” said Megan Mondics, 13. “All the parents were dressed in blue and white and they were all excited. It felt really good. I'm really happy we did so well.”
Starting in September the girls gathered and began putting in long hours rehearsing moves and beginning to build a routine.
“A lot of them have been together for a few years now,” coach Julie Lawrence said. “So they work really well together. After about three weeks of practice we started working on our routine for this and they put in a lot of time.”
All the years they have spent together has proven to be a great asset to what the girls do while performing.
“All that time has helped us to learn to get along really well,” said Lawrence's daughter Elizabeth, 11, who has been on the team for four years. “We are like sisters and I think that helps a lot that we are so close.”
They carry this closeness with them whether they are competing or not and that has helped them to be able to build a great team working relationship.
“Except for two of us, we are all in the same grade,” said Jolene Betts, 13. “It helps us know what to do as a squad and know what else is going on with each other, so if we are working on something we can take each other aside and work on making certain things better.”
This season the girls had an added bonus with a little help from Union Springs High School cheerleader Julie Hewitt, who came in to assist the girls with the creation of their routine.
“Julie helped so much,” Lawrence said. “She came in and really helped us get our routine together and I think the girls really enjoyed working with her. I think her help made it a lot of fun for them.”
Taylor Wilkinson, 11, said Hewitt's help was invaluable, working with the girls on every aspect of their performance.
“She brought in dance moves,” Wilkinson said. “She choreographed a lot of things for us to learn and we really did learn a lot from her.”
But Hewitt and Lawrence did leave room for the girls to be creative and express themselves.
“It all depended on how everyone felt,” Mondics said. “If everyone didn't like something we would change it so we got a lot of input into what we did.”
Throughout the course of the season the girls stayed hard at work cheering at the football games and dedicating several nights a week to practices, getting ready for Dryden.
But even all the practice in the world couldn't settle their nerves on competition day.
“It was a pretty big competition,” Wilkinson said. “I was very nervous before we got started, but once we got out there and I saw everybody cheering for us it got better.”
The girls performed a three-minute routine that was a dance and cheer combination, which they pulled off with flying colors.
“They did a fantastic job,” Lawrence said. “They got out there and they did an incredible performance, it was great to see them do so well.”
The thrill of hitting the floor and seeing a crowd full of people dressed in the team colors was an extraordinary lift for the girls.
“We were really fired up,” Elizabeth Lawrence said. “Seeing everyone there made me feel pretty confident that we could do pretty good after all the hard work we put in all season getting ready.”
The girls also had some added supporters in the form of the Moravia High School cheerleaders.
“I think they really liked that,” Lawrence said. “They invited us to one of their competitions and they came out to ours and were there cheering our girls on and I think that made it something a little extra special for all of them to have those girls there.”
All the support from the family and fans, all the hard work, all of it culminated in the girls walking away with the first place trophy and an incredibly exhilarating feeling.
“It was a really fun competition,” Wilkinson said. “It was very exciting, but it was even more exciting that we won. I don't think I'll ever forget this.”