March 02, 2019 at 09:29PM
The Frontier League hopes to be well-represented at this weekend's state cheerleading championships in Rochester.
Belleville Henderson and South Jefferson will both compete in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet today at Rochester Institute of Technology's Gordon Field House.
Both the Panthers and Spartans won their respective classes at the Section 3 championships Feb. 9 at Chittenango.
But it's the way both teams prevailed that impressed their head coaches.
Belleville Henderson, which won the section's Class D title, and South Jefferson, which claimed the Class B championship, finished with the top two total scores among all the Section 3 squads competing that day, allowing both to qualify for states.
"It was awesome," Belleville Henderson coach Jessica Winters said. "I think that really speaks to the level of competition in the Frontier League."
"We've done really well," South Jefferson coach Dianna Johnson said. "We've placed first at all the competitions we've gone to, except for one where we placed second."
Also in order to qualify for the state meet, both teams had to beat all of the other Section 3 teams in the B, C, and D classes (with squad sizes of 16 and less).
"So we had to beat everyone in the A division, every one in the B division and everyone in the C-D division," Johnson said. "And Belleville and us had to score within the top two in order to advance. That was great and to have two teams from the Frontier League advance is really good, that doesn't normally happen. Usually one of the Syracuse schools will beat us out, but this year we both did very well."
Both teams will compete in the Division 2 Small field at the state meet. Section 10 sent three schools to states with Heuvelton also competing in Division 2 Small. Lisbon is in Division 2 Large and Ogdensburg Free Academy qualified in the Co-Ed competition.
This will be Belleville Henderson's third appearance at the state cheerleading championships over the past four years, and it will be its first under the new format at states.
"We also attended states last year, so the girls know what it's all about and the atmosphere there," Winters said, in her sixth year as coach. "When I came on as coach, we were not nearly at the skill level that we are now. And they get better every year and it's amazing."
The Panthers' team is comprised of 11 competitors, including four seniors, so it sports plenty of leadership.
South Jefferson has competed at states before, but not under the new format, Johnson said.
The Spartans are comprised of 13 competitors, including one senior and four juniors.
"I think it does give us a lot of confidence," Johnson said. "We go against a lot of teams when we get to states, but we're hoping we can advance to the finals, they only take the top five for the finals. And if we can't make it that far, we're hoping we score in the top 10 — and that would be in all of New York state."
Despite being in different divisions in the Frontier League and beyond, the Belleville Henderson and South Jefferson cheerleading programs feel a common bond in competition.
"Our teams have actually been really supportive of each other this entire season, we've just been kind of rooting for each other," Winters said. "We were hoping it would be us two, but you never know with that many schools all at sectionals, we had no idea how all of this would turn out. It's awesome that both of these teams are going."
CARLOS PACES WHS SWIMMERSWatertown High School's Nate Carlos qualified for today's final round of the state boys swimming tournament in four events during preliminaries Friday at the Nassau County Aquatic Center at East Meadow on Long Island.
Carlos, a junior, advanced in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles and appeared on Watertown's qualifying 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
The Cyclones' 400 free relay placed sixth in qualifying with a time of 3 minutes, 13.13 seconds, featuring Caleb Way, Andrew Victoria, Simon Stratton and Carlos. Watertown's 200 free relay of Victoria, Way, Stratton and Carlos finished 16th in 1:28.52 to qualify.
Carlos placed a qualifying 10th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 47.75. He was the final qualifier in the 200 freestyle preliminaries, finishing 30th in 1:45.57.
Finals in all swimming events are scheduled to begin at 10:30 this morning.
The "fork" ratings are based primarily on food quality and preparation, with service and atmosphere factored into the final decision. Reviews are based on one unsolicited, unannounced visit to the restaurant.
The Frontier League hopes to be well-represented at this weekend's state cheerleading championships in Rochester.
Belleville Henderson and South Jefferson will both compete in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet today at Rochester Institute of Technology's Gordon Field House.
Both the Panthers and Spartans won their respective classes at the Section 3 championships Feb. 9 at Chittenango.
But it's the way both teams prevailed that impressed their head coaches.
Belleville Henderson, which won the section's Class D title, and South Jefferson, which claimed the Class B championship, finished with the top two total scores among all the Section 3 squads competing that day, allowing both to qualify for states.
"It was awesome," Belleville Henderson coach Jessica Winters said. "I think that really speaks to the level of competition in the Frontier League."
"We've done really well," South Jefferson coach Dianna Johnson said. "We've placed first at all the competitions we've gone to, except for one where we placed second."
Also in order to qualify for the state meet, both teams had to beat all of the other Section 3 teams in the B, C, and D classes (with squad sizes of 16 and less).
"So we had to beat everyone in the A division, every one in the B division and everyone in the C-D division," Johnson said. "And Belleville and us had to score within the top two in order to advance. That was great and to have two teams from the Frontier League advance is really good, that doesn't normally happen. Usually one of the Syracuse schools will beat us out, but this year we both did very well."
Both teams will compete in the Division 2 Small field at the state meet. Section 10 sent three schools to states with Heuvelton also competing in Division 2 Small. Lisbon is in Division 2 Large and Ogdensburg Free Academy qualified in the Co-Ed competition.
This will be Belleville Henderson's third appearance at the state cheerleading championships over the past four years, and it will be its first under the new format at states.
"We also attended states last year, so the girls know what it's all about and the atmosphere there," Winters said, in her sixth year as coach. "When I came on as coach, we were not nearly at the skill level that we are now. And they get better every year and it's amazing."
The Panthers' team is comprised of 11 competitors, including four seniors, so it sports plenty of leadership.
South Jefferson has competed at states before, but not under the new format, Johnson said.
The Spartans are comprised of 13 competitors, including one senior and four juniors.
"I think it does give us a lot of confidence," Johnson said. "We go against a lot of teams when we get to states, but we're hoping we can advance to the finals, they only take the top five for the finals. And if we can't make it that far, we're hoping we score in the top 10 — and that would be in all of New York state."
Despite being in different divisions in the Frontier League and beyond, the Belleville Henderson and South Jefferson cheerleading programs feel a common bond in competition.
"Our teams have actually been really supportive of each other this entire season, we've just been kind of rooting for each other," Winters said. "We were hoping it would be us two, but you never know with that many schools all at sectionals, we had no idea how all of this would turn out. It's awesome that both of these teams are going."
CARLOS PACES WHS SWIMMERSWatertown High School's Nate Carlos qualified for today's final round of the state boys swimming tournament in four events during preliminaries Friday at the Nassau County Aquatic Center at East Meadow on Long Island.
Carlos, a junior, advanced in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles and appeared on Watertown's qualifying 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
The Cyclones' 400 free relay placed sixth in qualifying with a time of 3 minutes, 13.13 seconds, featuring Caleb Way, Andrew Victoria, Simon Stratton and Carlos. Watertown's 200 free relay of Victoria, Way, Stratton and Carlos finished 16th in 1:28.52 to qualify.
Carlos placed a qualifying 10th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 47.75. He was the final qualifier in the 200 freestyle preliminaries, finishing 30th in 1:45.57.
Finals in all swimming events are scheduled to begin at 10:30 this morning.
The "fork" ratings are based primarily on food quality and preparation, with service and atmosphere factored into the final decision. Reviews are based on one unsolicited, unannounced visit to the restaurant.