They had almost an entirely brand new team this year, but Riverhead varsity cheerleaders did not let that stop them from accomplishing what only one other team has done so far in school history:
This past weekend, Riverhead Cheerleading made it all the way to the semi-finals in the national championship in Florida.
Last year was the first time Riverhead Cheerleading ever made as far as the semi-finals, but after nine of the team’s 12 cheerleaders graduated in May 2015, the team had to start from the ground-up in September.
“The kids put in a tremendous amount of work,” said head coach Stephanie Piraino today. “It’s a completely new team, but it’s a team that’s made up of athletes that continuously wanted to be successful, always positive, always working hard.”
Only three of the team’s cheerleaders had ever been to nationals before, Piraino said, which posed a challenge for reaching the same historic accomplishment as last year.
“But they didn’t go backwards – they went forward,” she said. “Hopefully we’re starting a trend.”
The team qualified for nationals after placing first at the regional competition in December. This past weekend, they placed among the top 22 teams in the country out of the 54 teams that made it to nationals.
“They practice five days a week, two or three hours a day,” said Stephanie Cawley, a parent of one of the cheerleaders. “They work really hard, and we’re really excited for them.”
The National High School Cheerleading Championship took place on Saturday and Sunday at Walt Disney World.
Riverhead Cheerleading will also be advancing to the Section XI county championships on February 20 at Longwood High School.
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