On Friday, Feb. 3 and Saturday, Feb. 4, the most talented high school cheerleading squads competed at the 2023 Class 1A and Class 2A Florida High School Athletic Association Competitive Cheerleading State Championships.
The event was held at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville. Four teams from the western communities — Seminole Ridge High School, the King’s Academy, Palm Beach Central High School and Wellington High School — participated in this state competition.
Seminole Ridge competed in the Class 2A Large Co-Ed division with 22 cheer athletes on its team: Chris Augustin, Alexis Brown, Nathan Derosiers, Heather Durand, Dmitri Freitas, Austin Fulton, Isabella Gaitan, Starlynn Gilbert, Aneya Goodwin, Kinsey Higgs, Andrick Knight, Samuel Louidort, Kyle-Renee McGlotten, Derek Perry, Sailor Ruiz, Madelyn Salm, Hannah Shephard, Jordyn Shipe, Shayla Stillwaggon, Kyra Taub, Marisol Velez and Isabella Waters.
In addition to Seminole Ridge, there were two other schools in the category: Bartow High School and Ridge Community School from Davenport. Bartow, a perennial power in high school cheerleading and a 10-time state champion, won with 84.6 points, Seminole Ridge was second with 78.2 points and Ridge Community finished third with 57.9 points. It was the fifth state runner-up title for Seminole Ridge, which is coached by Tamara Licavoli.
“We were only six points behind Bartow High School, the top team in the nation,” Licavoli said. “We’ve been about 15 points behind [Bartow] all season, so this is a true win for us. All of our male athletes are new to the sport compared to the 10-time state champs, which has a middle school team and a JV coed team and are able to train their athletes for several years. We accomplished our goal and made a name for ourselves, yet again. This time in the Large Co-Ed division.”
According to Licavoli, her team succeeded despite multiple recent setbacks.
“I am in awe of what this team did. For what this team has been through right up until the last minute, they did exactly what was needed,” she said. “It has been a wild ride this year with more changes and adjustments needed than usual. Right up into the week of states, we lost another athlete. This team is resilient! We are proud coaches because many athletes would have thrown in the towel, but they stayed strong and focused on their end goal. They hit their stunts and tumbling with the best execution and synchronization of the season… We went in knowing that competing against Bartow High School, a cheer giant, would be difficult. Other teams changed divisions just to have an opportunity to win, and we decided to take them head on. No one really expected us to put the routine out that we did.”
The King’s Academy competed in the Class 1A Small Division Co-Ed category. The TKA squad finished in fourth place in the semifinals with a score of 67.8 points. TKA head cheer coach Jenn Allen realizes that her team’s best days are in their future.
“I prayed for an incredible group of athletes who wanted to work hard and am blessed to be on this journey with so much support,” Allen said. “The future is bright for this young team, especially with no graduating seniors. We are so proud of this team!”
Palm Beach Central competed in the Class 2A Small Division. The Broncos scored 68.3 points and finished in eighth place out of 14 teams in their competition bracket. Only the top four teams advanced to the finals. Palm Beach Central head cheerleading coach Caitlin Flaherty was delighted with her team’s performance.
“Overall, I am extremely proud of how far this team has come over the past year,” Flaherty said. “We had many obstacles that were thrown at us — including a last-minute injury, where we had to utilize an alternate who learned our entire routine, perfectly, in three hours. They hit a perfect routine, without any deductions. The team bond these kids created really showed out in their performance because they were out there cheering each other on all throughout the routine and encouraging each other until the end of the performance. Being able to coach this group of girls has been such a rewarding experience, and I am very grateful to be able to watch them grow as athletes and as young ladies. Another unique aspect to our team this year is that we had an exchange student from Italy participating. She was new to cheerleading and ended the season hitting all her stunts and learning so much.”
Palm Beach Central’s roster featured 14 cheerleaders: Avery Hill, Carsin Garcia, Gabriella Brockway, Olivia Matushin, Kendyl Crespo, Kimberly Berg, Valentina Sparta, Emily Kaplan, Mariah Heyner, Ava Raymond, Kaitlyn Marsden, Eden Pierre, Abigail Rodriguez and Ashlyn Bonta.
Wellington competed in the Class 2A Extra Large Non-Tumbling division. The Wolverines reached the finals, where they competed against five other schools: Lakeland, Terry Parker from Jacksonville, East Ridge from Clermont, Spruce Creek from Port Orange and North Port. The Wolverines registered a score of 85.8, which was good enough for second place. The winning team was Lakeland, which had 87.4 points.
Wellington traveled to Gainesville with 27 cheer athletes on its roster: Emily Singer, Bella Vordermeier, Shelby Buckstein, Calista Palfenier, Bailey Ball, Dania Kanhai, Lexi O’Halloran, Emily Oswald, Breanna Bistrong, Genevieve Merkle, Hannah Teebagy, Isa Azanza, Emilia McGovern, Sydney Lopez, Hannah Dalton, Kyleigh Gardner, Ava Hefty, Morgan Hays, Taylor Carbocci, Micki Tozzi, Jalaina Kane, Ajah Alves, Sophia Heinen, Sara Ross, Berlyn Conerly, Kaitlyn Strathie and Mackenzie Hays.
Heather Brodnicki, the head cheer coach at WHS, had nothing but strong words of praise for her talented and enthusiastic team. “They were amazing,” Brodnicki said. “Their cheer was by far the highlight of their routine. We were against a fierce Lakeland High School team. It was very close!”
