West Islip overcomes adversity to win at Sachem North cheerleading meet
West Islip cheerleaders react after taking first place in the Suffolk Division I Medium Cheerleading Competition at Sachem North on Saturday. Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
It was described as “the worst week ever.”
Injuries and illnesses plagued the West Islip cheerleading team all season but this past week, before the Sachem North Varsity competition, the Lions hit their peak of bad luck.
However, this time dark times brought brighter days.
Down one person, the Lions managed to grab the first-place win in Medium DI on Saturday afternoon at Sachem North.
“I said this earlier today, ‘Watch us have the worst week ever and still win’,” Adrianna Cigliano said, laughing. “This year hasn’t been the easiest but we’ve kept going.”
Genna Johnson added, “This week was hard because some girls were sick, we had off and even our coach was sick but we made due with what we had and we ended up with the win.”
The routine started off on point. One member of the team was missing, so one group marked the opening stunts. The girls stuck a low-to-high twist, their first time sticking it according to Cigliano. The next move was a low-to-high arabesque. One group fell but it didn’t deter the other girls.
“We’ve struggled with our opening stunt,” Cigliano said. “We still fell but it was nice to have all of us in the air for the first part.”
Isabella Isolano said: “Falls happen. We have to keep a positive mentality throughout the routine. If you carry that anger throughout the rest of the routine, you’ll lose more points.”
The Lions continued to smile. Their cheer was loud and they stuck their final pyramid.
This is the first win for the Lions this season. Moving up to the Medium division from the Small was a big step which required some acclimation.
“We’ve been working really hard this season,” Johnson said. “We had a couple of seniors graduate. We moved to medium this year and we had to get all the girls on the same page. Our football team went really far this year, so we lost a little time practicing for competition. We’re very happy with our season so far and the steps that we’ve taken to get here.”
The division has been a battle between Longwood and Centereach with West Islip creeping up toward the top. The win Saturday definitely lifted the Lions' spirits as they and the cheerleading world prepares for the National High School Cheerleading Championship, beginning Feb. 8 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
There’s one more meet left in regular competition and the Lions are ready for it.
“This season has been interesting,” Isolano said. “Bottom line is we cheer for each other. We’re confident and we go into every competition working our hardest. We’ll do the same at Nationals and in the final meet.”
