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Suburban cheerleaders advance to state

About halfway into their routine, the South Elgin High School cheerleaders, all 19 girls (and one boy), froze.

Their uniforms - red, white and blue with rhinestones and Minnie Mouse bows stuck to high ponytails - were suddenly louder than the audience in a DeKalb gym Saturday morning.

The squad and the spectators waited for the music. Nothing.

But the team remembered the No. 1 rule of cheerleading: Never stop smiling.

"The trophy goes home with us, not them!" they chanted.

Despite some technical difficulties with their soundtrack, South Elgin just squeaked into the state finals after Illinois High School Association judges allowed them to perform a second routine - this time with music - at sectionals Saturday.

"They've pulled through, and we've done a great job," coach Katelyn Kelley said. "I'm so proud of them."

It was a drama-filled and acrobatic competition with some girls leaving the floor in tears and others left injured and limping off with the help of teammates. These are no pom-pom-waving cheerleaders, but gymnasts who pulled off back flips and aerial stunts over pyramids.

At the other Chicago area sectional competition at Rolling Meadows High School, there was standing room only the entire afternoon. Each cheer team entered the floor for the competition by walking out of a 40-foot-tall air-filled Mustang, which is the school mascot.

"It's fun having the sectionals on our own turf because our fans come out, and we feel more confident," said Rolling Meadows varsity cheerleader Nina Milewski.

Kerry Kowalski, of Arlington Heights, who was on the Rolling Meadows High School cheer team from 1985 to 1989, and her daughter, Maggie, who is on the school's current varsity team, said cheerleading has changed a lot over the last couple of decades.

"When I was on the team, there was no competitive cheerleading," Kerry Kowalski said. "We just cheered at basketball and football games. Now, there different stunts and tumbling."

St. Charles East, one of the top contenders in its size division, had a cheering section of its own, with parents holding huge cardboard faces of the girls. After their roughly three-minute routine, a silent and stunned squad walked, single-file, out of the DeKalb High School gym. Senior Miranda Doria blamed nerves on a routine she said wasn't their best.

"Bad things happen," the 17-year-old said. "And you never can really expect what can happen."

Still, they would qualify for the state championship in Bloomington Feb. 6-7.

Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville didn't make the cut after an up-and-down season plagued with injuries. But, before the finalists were announced, the coach and captains were beaming.

"No excuses. No regrets," coach Kim Fekete told her squad before they took the mat. "Lay it all out there."

It's advice that inspired their song choice, a techno remix with Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off."

"Don't let anything bother you, get to you," senior Kylie Hayden said. "Even if you fall, you have that next move that you need to do and hit perfectly."

Other suburban squads advancing:

Large: Crystal Lake Central; Huntley; St. Charles East; South Elgin; Maine South, Park Ridge; Wheaton North; Naperville Central; Schaumburg; York Community, Elmhurst; Lake Zurich; Rolling Meadows; Grayslake North; John Hersey, Arlington Heights; Saint Viator, Arlington Heights

Medium: Benet Academy, Lisle; Fenton, Bensenville; Timothy Christian, Elmhurst; Montini Catholic, Lombard; Antioch; Grayslake Central; Hampshire; Vernon Hills

Coed: Grant Community, Fox Lake; Mundelein; Streamwood; Lakes Community, Lake Villa; Barrington; Palatine; Buffalo Grove; Elk Grove Village; Glenbard East, Lombard; Conant, Hoffman Estates; Lake Park, Roselle; Darien, Hinsdale South.

Small: Lisle Senior; St. Edward, Elgin

• Daily Herald photographer George LeClaire contributed to this report.

Images: IHSA Cheer Sectional- Rolling Meadows

Images: IHSA Cheer Sectional- Dekalb

  Dundee-Crown High School's Jamie Davis, 18, left, and Natalie Erbes, 15, perform with their team Saturday during the IHSA Cheerleading sectional at DeKalb High School. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  Cary-Grove High School's Hannah Fishman, 18, facing, hugs teammate Kylie Fedyn, 17, before they take to the floor to perform Saturday at the IHSA Cheerleading sectional at DeKalb High School. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  Bartlett's cheerleading squad competes at a IHSA cheerleading sectional on Saturday at Rolling Meadows. George LeClaire/gleclaire@dailyherald.com
  Stevenson's cheerleading squad competes at a IHSA cheerleading sectional on Saturday at Rolling Meadows. George LeClaire/gleclaire@dailyherald.com
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