Participants of the inaugural NEPA Cheerleading Showdown gather for a group picture. The competition hosted by Mountain View Cheerleading was attended by squads from Dunmore, Forest City, Holy Cross, Mounain View, and Susquehanna High Schools.
Hoping to expose more local athletes to a different cheerleading experience, Mountain View High School hosted the inaugural NEPA Cheerleading Showdown on March 10.
“We wanted to expose the cheerleading teams to something outside of cheering at games and matches,” said Mountain View Co-Coach Alexia Presley.
Presley, who has experience with team cheer competitions and her Mountain View Co-Coach Teri Edwards organized the event along with the school’s Cheerleading Booster Club.
Dunmore, Forest City, Holy Cross, and Susquehanna Community joined host Mountain View to compete in three formats.
In the first round of competition the teams each had 90 seconds to perform a routine of cheers.
A dance routine, which could be a combination of dance routine, cheers, and stunts was the second round of competition.
A third round, Partner Stunts Category, in which up to five team members perform a series of stunts, was also held. Mountain View, Forest City, and Holy Cross were the only teams that performed this category.
Local cheerleading advisors Chyan Hulbert, Michelle Vogtman, and Telessa Bean served as the panel of judges.
Mountain View placed first in the Dance category and second in Cheer and was named the Large School Grand Champion. Holy Cross claimed first place in Cheer and was second in dance. Susquehanna was awarded the Small School Grand Champion.
Presley said that they intend to grow the event next year to include more teams and include younger levels.
“We want to provide this type of opportunity for the local youth teams,” explained Presley.
Presley hopes that having this will also grow cheerleading within the schools.
“You go across the New York border and squads have 30-40 athletes,” observed Presley.
Edwards feels it’s important to have competitions like this to change the mindset of the participants and the community.
“It creates a drive and a competitiveness for our cheerleaders and gives them something to work toward,” said Edwards. “It also allows the community to see it as a sport and realize that there’s an element of competition.”
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