Streamwood will challenge 2-time champs
It was practice as usual on Wednesday for Elk Grove High School's coed cheerleading team, but the pressure is mounting as members try to defend their state championship starting today in Bloomington.
The Grenadiers are the state's only two-time defending champs, having won the coed division both times since the Illinois High School Association began sanctioning competitive cheerleading as a sport in 2006.
On Friday, they make their case for a three-peat, trying to advance from the preliminary round today to Saturday's finals.
They will be among the more than 100 teams from across the state converging on U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington for the IHSA competitive cheerleading state finals.
"It's going to be very, very difficult," says coach Jeff Siegal. "One of our best tumblers is out with an injury, so we'll be low on tumbling, but we'll have to pull out all the stops on our stunting."
Teams are competing in four divisions: small, medium and large school divisions, as well as coed. Suburban schools look to be among the contenders in nearly all of them.
Among the coed teams alone, Siegal points to Downers Grove South, coached by Gina Dreyden, as the favorite. Local contenders include Libertyville, which finished second on Saturday behind Elk Grove at the Lake Park sectional in Roselle, as well as Streamwood and Palatine high schools.
Of those competitors, Streamwood had the toughest decision to make this year. It had to choose whether to allow senior David Lai on the team, which would make it a coed squad for the first time.
"A lot of the girls didn't want to do it at first," said senior Brittany Sloat, who has been on the team four years. "They were really hesitant because we would only have one guy."
Lai ended up on the team and helped the Sabres qualify for today's state finals.
"It was a very good decision," said Sloat. "David talked us into it. We're really happy he's here. He really fits in here and helps us along. He's fun. David doesn't mind our girl talk and all of our drama. He's encourages us. He's like a big brother."
Lai, who was on the junior varsity team last year, can't pinpoint exactly why he got into the cheerleading racket.
"I'm not really even sure," said Lai, who is lauded for his tumbling skill and the energy he brings. "I wanted to be different. I took a chance and it really worked out."
Brittany Sloat feels the team's unity this season has put it over the top.
"We really are a team," she said. "Everybody is good friends. We work together and we encourage each other to do the best. We want the best for each other and we believe in ourselves. We believe this is our year to do the best that we can."
Streamwood excels during its 3-minute routine due to a number of factors.
"It's the energy of the girls," said Jeanie Sloat, the coach and Brittany's mother. "They've improved their tumbling and they hit all of their stunts. We've got two pyramids, a couple of baskets, hill stretches, arabesque and scales. They team has really improved."
Meanwhile, in sectional competition held at Lake Park High School last weekend, the Lancers repeated as sectional champions at their own event, earning the highest score among both sectional flights.
All of the cheerleading routines take on bigger proportions once the teams reach U.S. Cellular Coliseum. The nearly two-year old arena seats 6,000, and last year the event sold 10,000 tickets for both days of action.
Officials with the Bloomington-Normal Area Convention & Visitors Bureau see it as a boon as well. They are expecting as many as 7,000 visitors to the area for the state competition, and they expect it to pump in as much as $750,000 to the local economy.