Warren Township Junior Cheer team wins state championship

Posted December 13, 2018 10:00 pm

Submitted by Kim Ghys

Warren Township Cheer and Pom Junior Cheer team is made up of 23 sixth-graders from the Gurnee area.

The team had a successful season competing at the Illinois Recreational Cheer Association's regional competitions, where the Warren Juniors Team won first place and a bid to the state competition at three competitions: at Lake Zurich High School Sept. 29, Dundee Crown High School in Carpentersville Oct. 13 and Jacobs High School in Algonquin Nov. 10.

The state competition was held Dec. 7-9 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.

On Friday evening, the preliminary competition was held, at which the 12 sixth-grade teams who made it to state competed for the top three spots to move on to the championship finals.

The top three teams were the Lake County Stallions out of Mundelein, scoring 82.6; Bartlett Cheer Association, scoring 83.2; and Warren Cheer and Pom Juniors, coming in first with 85.4.

On Sunday evening, the teams performed again for the final championship round, where the Lake County Stallions came in third with a score of 84.1, Bartlett Cheer Association took second place with 85, and Warren Cheer and Pom Juniors earned the state championship title with 89.4 points.

In 2016, the Warren Junior team placed third at the IRCA state finals. In 2017, the team placed second at the state finals, missing the championship by a tenth of a point. 2018 was their year to bring home the championship title with a 4.4 margin.

Warren Junior Cheer is coached by Kim Ghys, Jennifer Sweene, Tayna Czosek, Erin O'Toole and Alyla Ditiangkin.

Warren Junior Cheer is one of eight Warren Township Cheer and Pom teams, all of which made it to state this year, with five of them placing in the finals.

Warren Bantam (second grade), Warren JV (seventh grade), Warren Varsity (eighth grade) and Warren Poms (sixth through eighth) each earned third place at the state finals.

Warren Township Cheer and Pom registration for the 2018 season will begin in March and is open to students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

The coaches of the Warren Junior Cheer team with the state championship trophy: junior coaches Alyla Ditiangkin and Erin O'Toole; team manager/coaches Kim Ghys and Jennifer Sweene; and junior coach Tanya Czosek. The three junior coaches are students at Warren Township High School. Ditiangkin is a sophomore and O'Toole and Czosek are seniors. Courtesy of Kim Ghys

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