May 07, 2019 at 08:21PM
A dozen young Southeast Minnesota women, and their coaches, are flying to Florida on Thursday to compete in a cheerleading summit that draws competitors from across the country.
The D2 cheerleading summit at Disney World Resort's ESPN Wide World of Sports is Friday through Sunday. Members of Team Carbon, based in Rochester, have spent thousands of hours during the past year preparing for this event. But when they started seasonal competition last November, they didn't know they'd make it this far.
The team trains at Minnesota Xtreme, a Rochester gym owned by David and Annie DeBolt. The girls are also coached by Kim Noel.
The DeBolts are familiar with cheerleading competitions. David DeBolt coached All Star cheerleaders in the Twin Cities, and Annie DeBolt coached high school cheerleading there.
The couple decided to start a gym in Rochester five years ago. This year, their dream of competing in the world competition has become a reality.
Team members range in age from 12 to 18 and are from different schools around the region.
The D2 Summit is for gyms that train 125 athletes or fewer on an annual basis. In 2018, the D2 Summit had 800 teams and 16,000 competitors from all over the world. The competition is under the sponsorship of Varsity Spirit.
David DeBolt said that the team scored high enough during a competition this season to receive a "bid" to attend the Summit.
When the team performs in front of the judges this weekend, their two-minute, 30-second routine has to be as close to perfect as possible.
Team Carbon competes at the level three skill level, Annie DeBolt said. During one of their last practices before the competition on May 2, the team performed their routine to pounding music with every move timed to the second. The routine includes partner stunts, running tumbling feats, backwards flips, forward flips, standing tumbling and the construction of three simultaneous pyramids that then morph into one.
The seamless flow of the routine could only be achieved by those thousands of hours of practice. Their training includes high intensity interval training like sprints, strength training, conditioning and flexibility.
"We do a lot of plyometrics," David DeBolt said. Plyometrics, or jump training, helps build muscles for those all-important bursts of power needed during the routines.
The coaches and staff come up with routines that are used in competition based on the level at which the athletes compete and the ability of the specific athletes, David DeBolt said.
The routines include stunting — from basic pyramids to higher and higher levels of difficulty — and tumbling.
"Then we use transitional effects to put it all together. Building a routine is quite a creative process," David DeBolt said.
This is the first year the team members have competed together, Annie DeBolt said. and there is only one senior on the team.
Members of Team Carbon are: Rebecca Kendall, John Adams Middle School; Ella Stensrud, Kellogg Middle School; LeeAnn Krebs, Century High School; Kylie Watson, John Adams Middle School; Rylee Villalta, John Marshall High School; Avery Hjortaas, Kasson-Mantorville High School; Brooklyn Baudoin, Kellogg Middle School; Kiana Stanczyk, Kellogg Middle School; Abigail Gettman, Byron Middle School; Megan Currie, Century High School; Brailey Nelson, Dover-Eyota Middle School; and Ellie Eggert, Dover-Eyota Middle School.
A dozen young Southeast Minnesota women, and their coaches, are flying to Florida on Thursday to compete in a cheerleading summit that draws competitors from across the country.
The D2 cheerleading summit at Disney World Resort's ESPN Wide World of Sports is Friday through Sunday. Members of Team Carbon, based in Rochester, have spent thousands of hours during the past year preparing for this event. But when they started seasonal competition last November, they didn't know they'd make it this far.
The team trains at Minnesota Xtreme, a Rochester gym owned by David and Annie DeBolt. The girls are also coached by Kim Noel.
The DeBolts are familiar with cheerleading competitions. David DeBolt coached All Star cheerleaders in the Twin Cities, and Annie DeBolt coached high school cheerleading there.
The couple decided to start a gym in Rochester five years ago. This year, their dream of competing in the world competition has become a reality.
Team members range in age from 12 to 18 and are from different schools around the region.
The D2 Summit is for gyms that train 125 athletes or fewer on an annual basis. In 2018, the D2 Summit had 800 teams and 16,000 competitors from all over the world. The competition is under the sponsorship of Varsity Spirit.
David DeBolt said that the team scored high enough during a competition this season to receive a "bid" to attend the Summit.
When the team performs in front of the judges this weekend, their two-minute, 30-second routine has to be as close to perfect as possible.
Team Carbon competes at the level three skill level, Annie DeBolt said. During one of their last practices before the competition on May 2, the team performed their routine to pounding music with every move timed to the second. The routine includes partner stunts, running tumbling feats, backwards flips, forward flips, standing tumbling and the construction of three simultaneous pyramids that then morph into one.
The seamless flow of the routine could only be achieved by those thousands of hours of practice. Their training includes high intensity interval training like sprints, strength training, conditioning and flexibility.
"We do a lot of plyometrics," David DeBolt said. Plyometrics, or jump training, helps build muscles for those all-important bursts of power needed during the routines.
The coaches and staff come up with routines that are used in competition based on the level at which the athletes compete and the ability of the specific athletes, David DeBolt said.
The routines include stunting — from basic pyramids to higher and higher levels of difficulty — and tumbling.
"Then we use transitional effects to put it all together. Building a routine is quite a creative process," David DeBolt said.
This is the first year the team members have competed together, Annie DeBolt said. and there is only one senior on the team.
Members of Team Carbon are: Rebecca Kendall, John Adams Middle School; Ella Stensrud, Kellogg Middle School; LeeAnn Krebs, Century High School; Kylie Watson, John Adams Middle School; Rylee Villalta, John Marshall High School; Avery Hjortaas, Kasson-Mantorville High School; Brooklyn Baudoin, Kellogg Middle School; Kiana Stanczyk, Kellogg Middle School; Abigail Gettman, Byron Middle School; Megan Currie, Century High School; Brailey Nelson, Dover-Eyota Middle School; and Ellie Eggert, Dover-Eyota Middle School.