The Revere High School 2014-2015 Competition Cheerleading squad is working to perfect their choreographed cheer routine and to qualify for the state championship, a trend started by previous teams.

Last year, the team had seven seniors to take leadership roles. This year, the team has three senior captains, two juniors and five freshmen. Out of ten girls, only four are returning members who can introduce the six new members to the competition aspect; they have made it their goal to assist the younger girls. Third year coach of the Varsity cheer squads Kelly Staats addressed the legacy of the competition squad and how she feels about her young team concerning traditional overall success.

“The five freshmen have never really been on this type of a platform before, where everything is on the line to qualify for the state championship. The Revere teams have qualified with me for the past two years, and they qualified many times with the coach that preceded me. [The RHS competition cheer squad members] were the Division II state champions of Ohio in 2008. Revere has a long history of doing very well . . . It is a lot to ask of five young freshmen, but they are go-getters,” Staats said.

Competition cheer captain and senior Alison Baumgardner has cheered on both the football and basketball cheer squads for four years and has participated in competition cheer for two years. She addressed the amount of freshmen on the team.

“Being a freshman on the competition cheer squad is a huge responsibility and every freshman has done an outstanding job on the team so far,” Baumgardner said.

First year member of the competition squad freshman Allie Staats talked of the juniors and seniors’ support for the freshmen.

“The upperclassman drive us to practices and help us become better cheerleaders. If we mess up, they comfort us, and they are very supportive to the freshman,” Allie said.

Four year participant on all three squads and senior captain Maggie Riley clarified the difference between football, basketball and competition cheerleading.
“We have fall cheers for football and winter cheers for basketball. The competitive team isn’t the same team as either. We put together a routine and compete against other schools . . . The competitive team is made of members from all 3 squads that cheered football and/or basketball, not just the varsity [squad],” Riley said.

The squad consists of freshmen Victoria Bell, Haley Daubenmire, Elisabeth Hair, Angie Mills and Allie; juniors Shannnon Kahoe and Natalie Palopoli; and seniors Baumgardner, Kaitlyn Daubenmire and Riley.

The squad traveled to their first competition in Shaker Heights on Saturday, January 17, where they placed seventh. They will also compete Sunday, February 8 in Minerva, where they will compete with all of the other division II schools in the Northeast division to try to qualify for the state championships. In addition, they hope to test themselves at a competiton in Chardon on February 22.