Wyoming Area’s cheerleading squad made its first venture into the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Competitive Spirit Competition this season and qualified for the state championships on the first try.
Wyoming Area finished second out of a dozen teams Nov. 20 at The University of Scranton’s John Long Center, finishing behind only Hazleton Area, which placed eighth in the state in its division a year ago.
Hazleton Area has won the last four titles after Delaware Valley took the title in the debut of competitive spirit in District 2.
The district is sending four teams to the Giant Center in Hershey for the PIAA state championships Jan. 20-21. Delaware Valley and Berwick will join Hazleton Area and Wyoming Area in Hershey.
Unlike PIAA sports where teams are placed into classifications based on the enrollment of their schools, competitive spirit squads are separated into classes based on the number of participants in the routine, once they get to the state level.
Wyoming Area coordinated a 23-member squad to its second-place finish in District 2 where all teams went against each other.
In Hershey, the PIAA will separate teams into large, medium and small squads. Medium squads are those with 15-20 members, while large are those with more and small are those with less.
Wyoming Area is the only large squad to advance from District 2. Hazleton Area and Delaware Valley are medium while Berwick is small.
One of the challenges for Wyoming Area was working with such a large squad. There is no star or feature performer. The 23 members need to be in synch as they perform their routine, which has to be completed in 2 ½ minutes.
“You have to incorporate cheer and dance,” said second-year coach Rhonda Pizano. “It’s just everybody equal.”
Unlike some schools that have separate cheerleading teams by sport, or have one cheerleading team for competition and another to perform at sporting events, the cheerleaders at Wyoming Area are together throughout the entire school year.
Wyoming Area cheerleaders perform at football, boys basketball, girls basketball and wrestling events and, since putting together an exhibition performance at last year’s District 2 championships, where they were not an official school-recognized entry, competitive spirit.
Pizano coaches the team through all those efforts with assistance from Kendra Radle.
Both coaches have experience as cheerleaders.
Pizano was a four-year cheerleading captain at the University of Pittsburgh, where the team competed, but also performed at football, basketball and gymnastics events.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association does not conduct cheerleading or spirit events, but during Pizano’s time there, Pittsburgh won two national titles from one of the two governing bodies that does – the National Cheerleading Association.
Radle, a former Wyoming Area cheerleader, was on the dance team at Wilkes University.
The routine the Wyoming Area team used in competition differs from anything it does on the sideline or during timeouts at games.
“It’s something completely different,” Pizano said. “It’s an extra performance.”
Seniors Alexis Saunders and Vanessa Shedlock are both four-year team members and captains.
Junior Julia Kopetchny is also a captain in her third year on the team.
Alyson Grindall, another junior, is in her second year.
Bella Concha, Alyssa Shedlock, Sara Tomsak, Mollee Feeney, Valerie Gerchak, Faith Eyerman, Kayla Taddei, Olivia Kopetchny, Gabby Dobosh, Taylor Skursky, Annalisa Giambra, Zoe Winnestaffer are all sophomores in their second year on the team.
Joslin Licata, Madi Resciniti and Madie Kwiatkowski are sophomores, who are in their first year.
Freshmen Brenna Johnson, Britney Cheskiewicz, Abigail Barhigh and Amarah Scott are the team’s other first-year members.
In Hershey, the field is trimmed after the first day and the top contenders from around the state will move on to the final day of competition.
