Best in New England!
This describes the Derby cheerleading squad to a tee after winning the Division 4 New England Cheerleading championships at Providence Career and Technical High School on Saturday with 173.5 points.
This is Derby’s first-ever New England championship. The squad beat second-place Littleton, N.H. (167.5) and third-place Narragansett, R.I. (156.5).
“I’m so thrilled,” Lady Red Raiders coach Toni DeGennaro said. “The girls worked so hard and they deserve it. They are a great bunch of girls. I almost didn’t come back this year and I’m glad I did.”
Derby won New Englands after finishing second in Class S to Oxford last weekend by one point for the second straight year.
“They did a great job this year and they never finished lower than second in a competition,” DeGennaro said. “They were determined to do their best and they did.”
“All our hard work paid off and it feels amazing,” Red Raider senior captain Sammie Tabone said. “We deserve it more than anyone and I can’t explain how much it means to us.”
Tabone and two of her teammates, juniors Katy Duquette and Nicole Gregory, earned First Team All-State honors. A fourth cheerleader, senior Mary Hyde, who only cheers in the fall because she plays basketball in the winter, also submitted a tape and earned First Team All-State honors.
“It means a lot to our school and our town,” Gregory said.
“Words can’t explain it,” Duquette said.
Also cheering for the Lady Red Raiders were juniors Jenna Olenoski and Kayla Seminaro, sophomores Brianna Sawicki, Talia Cirillo, Tara Narowski, Kristina Dykes and Lara Bracci and freshmen Brianna Abel, Leah DiMartino, Alyssa Parlow, Samantha Roberts, Stephanie Ocasio and Meghan Simonds.
Meanwhile, Oxford, moved up from last year, where it placed sixth at New Englands. The Lady Wolverines also had to reconfigure their routine the night before the meet because of an injury.
“Considering we changed our routine, we did well,” Oxford senior captain Jocelyn Camarra said. “We did whatever we could and we did our best.”
“We had to make a lot of changes last night because we had to take a girl out,” Wolverines senior co-captain Taylor Hare said. “I would have been happier if we hit the routine better but we can’t change it. We hit our stunts to the best of our ability.”
Dropping a pyramid cost Oxford five points. If it weren’t for that, they would have finished third.
“We knew we’d get a deduction for it,” Camarra said. “If we had everyone and did as well as we did at States, we could have won, but Derby worked hard and they deserved it.”
Despite falling short of placing in the 18-team field, the Wolverines also see positives from this experience.
“It was exciting because we moved up from last year,” Oxford senior co-captain Gretchen Sciarrino said. “It was definitely a tough routine and not our best performance but we had a good season. Derby performed a great routine and they deserved it.”
Marie Kashuba coaches the Lady Wolverines and she’s assisted by Heather Cinicola. Also cheering for the Lady Wolverines were Carinne Corte-Real, Samantha Cirrincionne, Johnna D’Ambruoso, Haley Dauerty, Victoria Nichio, Stephanie Romanowski and Kaylee Yocher, sophomores Morgan Hare, Meghan Isberg, Casey Moran, Megan Morelli and Katelyn Whitburn and freshmen Amanda Donofrio, Jessica Fedak, Alexis Jelenik, Jessica Lewis, Amber Murray, Kaitlyn Twombly, Jonna Welsh and Ellen Yacovelli.
Overall, the Valley had a strong showing in cheerleading with Seymour also placing, Ansonia qualifying but choosing not to compete and Shelton just falling short of qualifying.
“I’d like to congratulate Seymour, Oxford, Ansonia and Shelton for having a great season and having great teams and I’m glad to be associated with them,” DeGennaro said.
