By Angela Watts
Assistant General Manager, Washington D.C.
** Look below the story to find a video player filled with the competition routines from the eight teams that advanced out of district competition and into the 2007 Northern Region championships.
**Click here to see complete photo gallery.
Two words have quickly become synonymous with Northern Region cheerleading: depth and talent.
But there is a third word that also applies not just to the Northern Region squads but to every cheerleading team in the state: schizophrenia.
Since the Virginia High School League added cheerleading to its list of 28 sanctioned sports whose team are eligible to win VHSL state championships at the Class A, AA and AAA levels in 2000, area athletes have had to learn to juggle game preparation with more intense, competition practices.
“We pretty much split our time half-and-half,” said first-year Stone Bridge Coach Nicholas Marchio, who inherits a squad that won three consecutive state titles from 2004-2006 and has placed in the Top 5 in the state in either Class AA or AAA for the past six seasons. “At the beginning of the season we work more toward game preparation because you have to be ready for that. Our first priority is our football team and supporting all of our other teams. But as it gets later in the season and that stuff is done we really start to concentrate on the competition preparation.
“There are so many all-star gyms in the area that the competition level in the Northern Region is always strong. From top-to-bottom we have great tumblers, great stunters and great motions. This is just a very strong cheerleading area.”
There is significant proof to back up Marchio’s claim. Current Northern Region teams have won five consecutive Virginia state championships, with West Springfield winning the area’s first title in 2003, Stone Bridge claiming the prize from 2004-2006 (twice as a member of the AA Dulles District and once as a member of the Northern Region) and Chantilly bringing home last year’s crown.
Last season the Northern Region boasted three of the Top 5 teams in Class AAA when Chantilly was followed by Stone Bridge (third) and Herndon (fifth).
“I think our region is the toughest in the entire state of Virginia,” said Herndon Coach Jenny Goff,
who cheered herself at Herndon in 2002 and served as a Hornet assistant
for four years before taking over the program this season. “Whoever makes it out of their district competition and to regionals
has to be completely on point. One minor mistake could cost them their
ticket to states.”
The competition season begins in mid-October and runs until the state championships are held Nov. 8 at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center in Richmond. Spectators can look forward to seeing action-packed, three-minute routines that must combine precision and difficulty with creativity. Squads are judged on a number of criteria, including motions, jumps, tumbling, stunts and dance.
“I still classify wrestling as the hardest individual sport,” Goff said. “But I can
say that cheerleading — for how much you have to truly work together
— is the hardest team sport. Fans who come out to our competitions won’t be disappointed.”
Top 5 Virginia High School League State Championship Finishes by Current Northern Region Teams
2000 McLean 3rd; Chantilly 4th
2001 Stone Bridge* 3rd
2002 Chantilly 3rd; Stone Bridge* 2nd
2003 West Springfield 1st; Lake Braddock 4th; Stone Bridge* 4th
2004 Stone Bridge* 1st
2005 Stone Bridge 1st; Lake Braddock 2nd
2006 Stone Bridge 1st; Chantilly 3rd
2007 Chantilly 1st; Stone Bridge 3rd; Herndon 5th
*Results include when Stone Bridge was a member of the AA Dulles District prior to joining the AAA Northern Region in 2005.
2008 Competition Event Schedule
Oct. 15: Liberty District SEMI FINALS @ South Lakes; National District SEMI FINALS @ Mount Vernon
Oct. 16: Concorde District SEMI FINALS @ Oakton; Patriot District SEMI FINALS @ Hayfield
Oct. 20: Liberty District FINALS @ South Lakes; National District FINALS @ Mount Vernon
Oct. 21: Concorde District FINALS @ Chantilly
Oct. 22: Patriot District FINALS @ Lake Braddock
Oct. 25: Northern Region SEMI FINALS @ Robinson — Eight teams perform at 3 p.m. and the other eight teams perform at 8 p.m.
Nov. 1: Northern Region FINALS @ Robinson @ 5 p.m.
Nov. 8: VHSL State Championships @ VCU’s Siegel Center
Email: awatts@digitalsports.com
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