Naperville Central’s girls competitive cheerleading team competed in the Illinois High School Association state finals on Feb. 7 and placed 11th overall.
The team placed third at sectionals on Jan. 28 at Neuqua Valley High School.
Only 25 teams are able to go to state each year, with the top 10 advancing to the finals. Central missed the finals cutoff by 0.06 points.
“They did fantastic,” head coach Samantha Szopinski said. “They hit a zero, which means they had no deductions, no errors, things like that. So they had a great performance [and] they had great energy. [Overall], they had a flawless routine.”
The team performed the same routine Szopinski mentioned at state.
“State was [our] last performance, so I kind of gave it all, and then after I did cry, because it was just very emotional and very exciting,” Team member Sharon Ho said. “At state, it was just leaving it all on the mat.”
Szopinski and Ho agree that consistency was key to their success.
The team only received one deduction all year. With one fall the entire season, their stunts remained steady, as well as their tumbling. Szopinski attributes this success to their training schedule.
“We started every practice with a full out, meaning that we pretended we had an audience, so they would do a full routine every single practice at the beginning, and then we would use the rest of practice to fix areas that [needed] it,” Szopinski said. “Then every Friday, we performed for our parents and some of our teachers and administration would come again, just [for] more practice in front of an audience.”
Szopinski has coached cheer for 17 years.
“They were just as [invested] as me,” Szopinski said. “I think we were in it together.”
Szopinski summarizes her feelings after the season as “pure joy.”
“I’ve been doing this a really long time,” Szopinski said. “I have three small kids, and sometimes people [ask] when are you gonna be done coaching? I’m like, when it’s not fun. And I just had so much [fun], it was just pure joy. Being with them every practice was great. They were a really, really special group.”