Coral Glades High cheerleaders win third straight title - Sun Sentinel

February 22, 2019 at 03:41AM

Once again, local cheerleading teams proved they were among the state's best at the recent FHSAA state cheerleading championships at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Coral Glades High won its third straight title and sixth in school history, the most of any Broward County team, while two-time defending Class 1A state champion Coral Springs Charter School finished third after winning the previous two years. Coral Springs High School also took third-place honors.

Coral Glades won a third straight Extra Large Division - Non-Tumbling state title with 82 points, while West Broward was a close second at 80.20 points.

Coral Glades coach Alison Madej transitioned from being the booster club treasurer for seven years to coach the squad for the first time this season. Her eldest daughter Victoria was a member of the first three Jaguars state championship squads, while her youngest, Elizabeth, is a junior on the current team and has won three championships.

"We totally reworked the first 38 seconds of the routine two weeks ago after taking the judges' critiques from regionals," Madej said. "It really wasn't that difficult. They practiced hard the last two weeks, probably harder than they have all season."

"It's been a great ride," she said.

"I came out of losing my first year and I never thought that three years later I would have three state titles," said Jamisyn Derks, a senior captain, who has been on the team all four years. "I 100 percent thought we could win this year. Every girl we added was amazing. There was a lot of pressure, except for maybe the girls who had won twice before."

Panthers coach Rachal Garris said she was proud of the team. Coral Springs Charter took third in the Small Division (Non-Tumbling) with 84.10 points. Lake Highland Prep (88.70) and Bishop Snyder (88.30) were first and second, respectively.

"They continued to push through the routine even with the fall," Garris said. "There work very hard on the details and even though we didn't have a perfect routine, we still ended up third in the state."

Coral Springs Charter junior Rebecca Goldstein said the team added more stunts into this year's routine and even overcame a stunt fall in the final.

"It was the hardest routine that we have ever done," said Goldstein, who has been on the team four years. "We are a little more frustrated because we knew we could do it and we had it in our hands and we let the ball drop."

South Florida teams were well represented in the Small Division – Non-Tumbling finals as Coral Springs placed third with 77.90 points.

A total of 3,578 cheerleaders from nearly 200 teams, the most ever, competed in the two-day competition. Cheer teams in the Small Division have 12 cheerleaders, followed by the Medium (13-16 cheerleaders), Large (17-20 cheerleaders) and Extra Large (21 and up).

Once again, local cheerleading teams proved they were among the state's best at the recent FHSAA state cheerleading championships at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Coral Glades High won its third straight title and sixth in school history, the most of any Broward County team, while two-time defending Class 1A state champion Coral Springs Charter School finished third after winning the previous two years. Coral Springs High School also took third-place honors.

Coral Glades won a third straight Extra Large Division - Non-Tumbling state title with 82 points, while West Broward was a close second at 80.20 points.

Coral Glades coach Alison Madej transitioned from being the booster club treasurer for seven years to coach the squad for the first time this season. Her eldest daughter Victoria was a member of the first three Jaguars state championship squads, while her youngest, Elizabeth, is a junior on the current team and has won three championships.

"We totally reworked the first 38 seconds of the routine two weeks ago after taking the judges' critiques from regionals," Madej said. "It really wasn't that difficult. They practiced hard the last two weeks, probably harder than they have all season."

"It's been a great ride," she said.

"I came out of losing my first year and I never thought that three years later I would have three state titles," said Jamisyn Derks, a senior captain, who has been on the team all four years. "I 100 percent thought we could win this year. Every girl we added was amazing. There was a lot of pressure, except for maybe the girls who had won twice before."

Panthers coach Rachal Garris said she was proud of the team. Coral Springs Charter took third in the Small Division (Non-Tumbling) with 84.10 points. Lake Highland Prep (88.70) and Bishop Snyder (88.30) were first and second, respectively.

"They continued to push through the routine even with the fall," Garris said. "There work very hard on the details and even though we didn't have a perfect routine, we still ended up third in the state."

Coral Springs Charter junior Rebecca Goldstein said the team added more stunts into this year's routine and even overcame a stunt fall in the final.

"It was the hardest routine that we have ever done," said Goldstein, who has been on the team four years. "We are a little more frustrated because we knew we could do it and we had it in our hands and we let the ball drop."

South Florida teams were well represented in the Small Division – Non-Tumbling finals as Coral Springs placed third with 77.90 points.

A total of 3,578 cheerleaders from nearly 200 teams, the most ever, competed in the two-day competition. Cheer teams in the Small Division have 12 cheerleaders, followed by the Medium (13-16 cheerleaders), Large (17-20 cheerleaders) and Extra Large (21 and up).

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