Cheerleaders Win State Championship

Cheerleaders with their State Championship trophy
photo by Kelley Reale

Adiza Alasa, Veritas Staff

The RHS cheerleaders are MSSAA Division 4 State Champions for the fourth time in the past eight seasons. The cheerleaders competed for the state title on Sunday, Nov. 22 at Algonquin Regional High School against nine other teams.

Their success at states followed their first place win at regionals on Nov. 15 at Whitman-Hanson High School and their triumph in the South Shore League Championship on Nov. 6 at Abington High School.

Rockland beat the second place team, Ipswich, by an impressive fifteen points. To capture this championship, the girls worked tirelessly, practicing every day, under the direction of Head Coach Jeanine Reardon. In addition, several members of the team did tumbling twice a week outside of high school cheer.

Senior captain and league all star, Carly Reardon, said she had faith in her team going into the competition, though she thought it would be very competitive. “I went in pretty confident. I was little nervous because there was nothing I wanted more than to win a state title my senior year.”

Reardon was extremely satisfied with her team’s performance at states. Although getting their stunts down was one of their biggest challenges throughout the season, both Carly and her mother, Coach Jeanine Reardon, said the team performed the stunts without a problem at states.

For the future, Carly Reardon would like to work on having more confidence as a team. Coach Jeanine Reardon wants to improve the team’s jumps and tumbling.

Despite the limited attendance of the student body at the competition, perhaps because of the distance, junior fan, Lyndsay Norris was there to support the team.

Norris said the team hit a perfect routine at states, as they have at multiple other competitions. She was expecting the team to win, especially after their prior success at leagues and regionals.

After observing every other team’s performance, Norris was confident that Rockland would win. No other teams at the competitions concerned her, though she admits she was surprised by how much they won by.

Coach Jeanine Reardon said her concerns going into the competition lay within the fact that they were in a highly competitive division facing many talented teams. She also said going into the competition, she expected the win would not come with ease. After it was all over, she said she was completely satisfied with her team’s performance.

To what can the team’s massive success be credited? Norris says it is their ambition to win that sets them apart from the competition. In addition, they are a naturally talented team. “Their skill is unlike any other team. Rockland is able to do stunts that some level 5 all star teams do,” said Norris. Coach Reardon says their success is due to the hard work from all the girls.

One thing is for sure: the RHS cheerleading team is a force to be reckoned with on the mats.