Wantagh cheerleading captain Brenda Martin proud her team
Wantagh performs a stunt during the Nassau cheerleading competition on Saturday, Jan 27, 2018, at Bethpage High School. Credit: Bob Sorensen
The Wantagh cheerleading team competes with a distinguishable poise, one that sets the Warriors apart from most other competitors.
Performing an opening stunt with a difficulty level that maxed out the score sheet, the Warriors posted a score of 89.7, winning Saturday morning’s Small Schools Division II event at Bethpage.
Their technically sound approach, featuring precise movements and full extensions, is somewhat new for the Warriors, who struggled with such things last season.
“It’s something that we have been practicing this entire year,” coach Matthew Schneyer said. “Last year we were a little sloppy, and that’s really what cost us the national championship. This year we’ve really been focusing on hitting our skills and hitting them sharply.”
Schneyer said that the Warriors got off to a rocky start but have since recovered to go 6-0 in their competitions this season. After two girls quit early on, Wantagh had to move forward.
Brenda Martin, a captain, said she’s proud of how the season has gone and knows there’s still room for more. With Wantagh preparing for nationals in two weeks, she said this performance inspires confidence.
“We didn’t hit a perfect routine today, but we had in the past,” she said. “Practices have been really consistent, but we just have to work on a perfect routine and executing everything we possibly can.”
Plainedge and Bethpage placed second and third, respectively, in the five-team field. Freeport won the Small Schools D-I event with a score of 88.0, Carey won in Large Schools I with a 79.75 and Calhoun posted a 75.5 as the lone team competing in the coed division.
Seaford, which won the Large Schools II event with an 88.2, overcame an early fall in a pyramid to best second-place Cold Spring Harbor.
“We hit mostly every aspect of our stunts,” senior captain Kelly Gagliano said. “We came together like we wanted. Our weeks have been pretty bad recently, but it helps to come together like this.”
Coach Lisa Ferrari said the Vikings had a host of problems in recent weeks, all of which led to lower scores. And although their 88.2 was good enough to win on Saturday, the Vikings still stand to improve, in her opinion.
“I’m extremely proud of them,” she said. “We’ve had a rough couple of weeks. They came out for regionals super strong. We sustained some injuries, some illnesses, and then they couldn’t really get back into the groove.”
They’re trending in the right direction, and Anna Gagliano, Kelly’s cousin, is happy with where they are.
“Today was like a miracle, honestly,” she said. “We’ve had a rough couple of weeks. We finally clicked. Today was like our clicking point.”
