North county cheer teams vault over competition

For the second year in a row, Chesapeake High School cheerleaders took home the gold - and first place - in the fall county cheerleading competition. And just as they did last year, the North County Knights cheerleaders came in a strong second.

Third place went to the Northeast High School this year, making it a clean sweep for north county teams.

The stadium seats in the Meade High School gymnasium were packed to capacity Wednesday evening for the sold-out event. The energy and enthusiasm of nearly 2,000 pumped-up spectators quickly heated up the cavernous room. The disc jockey cranked up the volume as Michael Jackson's "Thriller" boomed through the oversized speakers.

Skip Lee, the announcer, did his best impersonation of Ed McMahon while introducing the 11 of 12 county public high schools that sent squads to the event: Arundel, Northeast, Chesapeake, South River, Glen Burnie, Old Mill, Southern, Broadneck and Severna Park.

Chesapeake High's squad of 25 girls, the third group to perform, took to the mat with a crisp, well-executed series of gasp-inducing tumbles for their opener. They never let up as they moved seamlessly through dozens of gravity-defying routines.

Their competition was nearly their equal, as one squad after another stepped up with dazzling stunts, sassy dance moves and deep-rooted school spirit.

Six judges were stationed around the room to view the 2 1/2-minute performances and score the competitors on voice and spirit projection, the execution of the dance moves and motions, jumps, tumbling, pyramids, stunts and how much fun the girls appeared to be having.

During the two-hour event, hundreds of bodies flashed through the air like firecrackers, tumbled effortlessly at high velocity across the padded floor, and shook the rafters with their boisterous cheers.

"Over the years, this county's teams have become stronger," said Shelley Pope-Keitt, the head judge. "They're performing more safely, not over their heads."

Looking at the enthusiastic crowds, she added: "The crowds here are always supportive - every year, all the teams improve."

"You can see there are teams that are building," noted judge Caniesha Washington. "There are some things that need work, some more practice. They'll do this again during the winter season competitions."

The top three teams - Chesapeake won with 312.5 points, North County earned 293 and Northeast garnered 288.5 - will compete Nov. 10 at North Point High School in Charles County against teams from St. Mary's, Charles and Howard counties. The top four teams that emerge from that regional competition will return to North Point on Nov. 14 for the state competition against four teams representing Baltimore, Harford, Carroll and Frederick counties.

The road to regionals can be rough. On Wednesday night, some girls completed their routines, bowed and raced for the exits. The pressure to be perfect had ended. They ran outside to gulp down the cooler night air or to shed tears. Minutes later, they were back on the sidelines, cheering on friends from other teams.

Chesapeake coach Lisa Freburger and fellow coaches Jenn Kobrin and Joe Vecchioni hugged and danced with their students when their win was announced.

"Our kids are so talented," Freburger said. "They work hard. Some are all-stars. They cheer at all the football games, even the rainy ones. Our tumbling is one of our strong points."

"We had a lot of energy," said Lauren Grady, 16, a senior in her third year of cheering for the Cougars. "We left our hearts on the mat."

Surrounded by her team, North County coach Jenn Fulwiler, a former Knights cheerleader herself, said: "We battled through eight weeks of swine flu, three full practices and the death of a former student - those are the obstacles. This season has been a huge struggle."

"There was not a weak team the entire night," said Greg Collins, a representative of the Maryland High School Cheerleading Association, the governing body of the eight Maryland counties that consider cheerleading a sport. "Everyone stepped up their game."

Wendi Winters is a freelance writer living on the Broadneck Peninsula.