Conant, Elk Grove cheerleaders head downstate to defend state titles

Conant High School cheerleaders head to the IHSA state cheerleading finals this weekend as defending champions.

But they’re not resting on their laurels.

“We’ve upped the difficulty in every single category,” head coach Dana Musinski said as the team prepares to defend its title at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington.

Already, their efforts have paid off. Earlier this season, they won the Mid Suburban League Conference championship, and last Saturday they claimed the large varsity division crown at the Streamwood sectional.

Conant took first place, followed by Glenbard West, Rolling Meadows, Neuqua Valley and Schaumburg high schools. As the top five squads in large varsity, they all advanced to state.

The IHSA cheerleading championships will begin with Friday’s preliminary round in small school, medium school, large school and coed categories. Half the squads will survive to compete for the championships on Saturday.

For the second year in a row, the entire event will be streamed live on www.IHSA.tv, and available to be viewed any time on-demand after the event is over. The free webcast will feature video of every team’s performance.

Musinski says her team doesn’t think about winning another title. At this point, she says, all they hope for is to advance past the preliminary round, into Saturday’s final round, and live to cheer another day.

“We only lost four seniors,” Musinski said. “We’re pumped and feeling really good coming off winning the sectional championship.”

However, the competition will be tight. At the Grayslake North sectional, Lake Zurich, St. Viator and Stevenson high schools all earned a state berth with higher scores than Conant. Grant High School in Fox Lake and Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein also qualified.

The coed division also will see strong competition. While Elk Grove High School enters as the five-time defending champions, they are taking the floor under new coaches.

Jeff Siegal, who helped build the Elk Grove dynasty, returned this year to Buffalo Grove High School, where he coached its cheerleaders to a 2001 state title in the Illinois Cheerleading Coaches’ Association.

The two teams finished neck and neck at the Grayslake North Sectional, where Palatine High School won the title, followed by Elk Grove and Buffalo Grove. Fenton High School grabbing fifth place for the final berth to state.

Danielle Damato, who cheered under Siegal’s tutelage in both his all-star squad and at Buffalo Grove, now serves as head coach at Elk Grove. Despite having only three returning members, she expects to do well at state.

“They’re pretty determined,” Damato said. “They have a really difficult routine, but they can hit it.”

In a separate sectional, also held at Grayslake North, Libertyville, Mundelein and Barrington high schools advanced to Bloomington, while at the Streamwood sectional, Lake Park won the coed title, followed by Streamwood. South Elgin and St. Charles North also earned trips to state.

Among schools competing in the medium varsity division, Antioch won the Grayslake North Sectional and comes in with the highest score. Coached by Robin Gwinn, Antioch has made it to the top 10 in state every year at the IHSA tournament.

Other medium sized squads advancing were Vernon Hills, Grayslake North, Prairie Ridge and Wauconda, while at the Streamwood sectional, both Glenbard South and St. Francis in Wheaton earned state bids.