West Babylon edges Rocky Point to claim Suffolk Class B cheerleading crown
West Babylon wins the Suffolk Class B cheerleading championship at Sachem East on Saturday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
When the West Babylon cheerleading squad saw the tears in their coaches eyes as they hit their final poses, they knew they had just done something great.
But what they didn’t know was whether or not it would be their last performance of the season.
“A perfect competition is when everyone does their best and that’s what happened today,” main base Sianna Contreras said. “Everyone else did so well that we didn’t know if it was going to be enough.”
The flawless stunts and synchronous routine were enough for a county title and a trip to the state championships, as West Babylon claimed the Class B crown with a score of 90.3, narrowly edging Rocky Point (90.2) at the Suffolk championship on Saturday afternoon at Sachem East High School.
“We knew we could do it, but coming together and feeling the love and drive that we had together today is what made it happen,” flyer Tavia Barany said. “We weren’t going to let our season end here, so we went out there and gave it all we got.”
The squad “hit zero,” meaning executing the routine without any deductions.
“As soon as they said, ‘5, 6, 7, 8, West,’ I knew they were going to nail it,” coach Danielle Comparato said. “I’ve never seen them this confident before. It instantly made me cry because of how proud I was of them.”
West Babylon won its last county title in 2022 as a co-ed squad before finishing second at the state championship.
“This feels different and better than it did two years ago,” side base Sarah Angelos said. “I think this time we can finish what we started back then.”
Rocky Point, which won the Small Varsity Division II title at the 2024 UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship at ESPN's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida on Feb. 12, added a newly legalized stunt to their routine that was dropped by two groups resulting in a two-point deduction.
“This was the hardest routine the program has ever put out,” coach Samantha Ferrara said. “The back handspring full up is an extremely difficult stunt but we wanted to be the few teams to do it. It’s very hard to perfect.”
Sachem East earns Class A crown
Sachem East, which won the Class A title with a score of 91.4, used an “incredible” theme this season to strive for a county crown.
“Our theme in our music and routine is ‘incredible’ and that’s what we feel this team is,” co-coach Brianna Aghabekian said. “They took on the message in the songs that we use and fought hard to make sure this wasn’t the last time they performed to them.”
Sachem East, which finished fourth at last season's county championship, won five of seven regular-season competitions this season, the most for a single-season in program history, according to co-coach Victoria Aghabekian.
“This is a feeling they’ll never forget,” Victoria said. “They had a fire lit under them to come home from nationals, make a statement in our home school and do what we do best.”
Mount Sinai, Ward Melville place first
Mount Sinai secured its eighth county crown with a score of 92.7 to win the Class C title. Ward Melville, which placed third in the county last season, won the co-ed title with a score of 92.6.
All four squads (West Babylon, Sachem East, Mount Sinai and Ward Melville) will represent Section XI in the state championship on March 2 at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton.
