Champion Cheer Squad Reflects on Season's Successes

Though the 18-member Manassas Park High cheerleading squad worked hard  and ran a tight operation all season, the team didn’t expect to walk away as the Single A state champions on Saturday, Alicia Sowers, the team's coach, said.

 The varsity squad competed against 13 other teams at the Virginia High School League State Cheer Championship, held at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center in Richmond.

 “We have a very determined group of athletes.  We anticipated a tight competition this Saturday. The best part of the day was that we did not know the placement and were honestly surprised when we won.  It was an awesome feeling—a once in a lifetime moment,” Sowers said on Tuesday. 

Saturday was the fifth trip to the state competition for the cheerleading team with Sowers at the helm.

 Here is the final ranking for the first round of the Single A high school championship:

1.Manassas Park

2.East Rockingham

3. Wilson Memorial

4. King William

5. Graham

6. Arcadia

7. Virginia High

8. Central – Woodstock

9 James River

10 Windsor

11. Colonial Beach

12. Radford

13. Glenvar

 After the first round, the slate was cleared and the top five teams competed again. After that, the final score was calculated for each team.

 1. Manassas Park   220.0

2. East Rockingham 219.5

3. King William        216.5

4. Graham              208.0

5. Wilson Memorial  206.5

 The team accomplished all of this season’s main goals—to place and advance at all our competition, Sowers said.

 On Oct. 31, the team traveled to Central High School in Woodstock for the Bull Run District Cheer Competition.  It placed first at the competition with a combined score of 404.5 points, defeating the second place Strasburg High cheerleaders, who had a score of 372.  

On the same day, Austin McGowan, Jessica Evans, Alexis Nunziata and Victoria Dumas made First Team All District.  McGowan was named Bull Run District Cheerleader of the Year, while Sowers was honored with the Bull Run District Coach of the Year award.

Days later at the Region B competition on Nov. 5, 10 teams competed for the region title and for the opportunity to compete at the state level, Sowers said. 

The Cougars placed third in this competition. McGowan and Evans made the First Team All Region while fellow cheerleader, Nunziata made the Second Team All Region.

 Coach Sowers and the cheerleaders said they would like to thank everyone for their support. This includes the “amazing”  parents of the athletes, the Manassas Park City School Central Office, administration and school board.  The team also thanked the teachers, staff and students of Manassas Park High School who supported the team in its journey.

The team extended a special thanks to superintendent of Manassas Park City Schools, Dr. Bruce McDade, who attended Saturday’s competition.

The 2011 Manassas Park High School Varsity Cheerleading Squad is as follows:

Breonna Bibb, Ambershea Brown, Anjelica Diaz, Victoria Dumas, Jessica Evans, Erika Fisher, Raquel Gaitan, Macy Gollaher (Captain), Casey Halterman, Austin McGowan, Rebecca Moreno, Alexis Nunziata (Captain), Madison Polk, Katelyn Powell, Shelby Pullen, Chanelle Scott, Diana Starbird and Megen Tripodi. The team manager is Adrianna Moreno. Coach Sowers is assisted by junior varsity Coach Bonnie White.