By Randy Whalen
For the Bugle
All season long the Joliet West competitive cheer team had one mission: To win another state championship.
The Tigers accomplished that with a record performance last weekend. They capped a special season, which included a phenomenal postseason push, and won the large school state title by over four points on Saturday, Feb. 3 at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. It was their second state championship in the past three seasons and last year they were second.
The final standings were: Joliet West (94.44), Marist (90.13), and Stevenson (89.43) were the top three. The 4.31 point difference between first and second, was the largest margin of victory ever for a championship in the large school class.
Sandburg (88.72) edged Huntley (88.49) for fourth. Jacobs (86.04) was sixth, defending large school champion Lincoln-Way East (85.51) placed seventh, while Prospect (85.31), Neuqua Valley (85.20), and Edwardsville (84.93) rounded out the top 10.
With a large crowd cheering them on, the Tigers had a nearly flawless performance that had most everyone in the crowded arena clapping with approval. They were the second of the large school teams to compete, and after they were done there was a feeling that they were the champions. When defending champion Lincoln-Way East had a major mistake in the middle of its performance, that pretty much sealed the deal.
“These girls were just driven and had extremely high goals since the beginning of the year,” Joliet West coach Amy DiForti said. “No one was going to stop them from it.”
When Joliet West won its first title in 2016, it actually had a little better score of 94.70. But after falling to a total of 92.71 in the loss to Lincoln-Way East (94.46) last year, the Tigers toughened up their routine.
“Just the culture of the program, it’s very strong,” DiForti said of what makes the difference. “[Assistant coach] Becky [Stortz] try new things and we focus on the mental side of things. We believe that success breeds success and the kids are used to that pressure.
“It’s an amazing accomplishment, but it’s a lot of hard work. They are the hardest working kids in the school.”
There were eight seniors on the team. All of them were there for the past three year run. They were Hope Benavidez, Leah Combs, Lea Delattre, Makayla Hurd, Mario McGowan, Jessica Orr, Lexi Stariha and Julia Todd.
“Words can’t express it,” said Todd, who was on the varsity all four years. “We enjoyed every moment. We wanted to be there for each other and the team. We didn’t hold back. We went ‘all in.’ That was our motto this year.
Combs, a 3-year varsity veteran, agreed.
“We just had to start focusing on ourselves,” she said. “It’s just super exciting. The coaches pushed us to do our best and win it.”
The rest of the members of the team were: Alyssa Anderson, Kennedy Aubry, Kelsey Bishop, Maddie Blenck, Sara Dinardo, Cheyenne Eads, Mikayla Garcia, Katie Gibson, Taylor Latta, Arielle Lindsey, Lindsey McCrea, Nya Mitchell, Jazmin Morales, Haley Nurczyk and Tia Roland. Savana Delrose is the team manager.
Joliet West is now in select company as one of only four schools to win multiple titles in the large division, joining Lincoln-Way East, Lockport, and Sandburg.
The Tigers won the Limestone Sectional on Saturday, Jan. 27 with a state-high score of 93.47. They also had the top preliminary score at state on Friday, Feb. 2 with a 92.93 mark.
For the Lockport Township cheer team it was anything but business as usual this season. The Porters transformed themselves from a conventional large school team to a coed one. The result was a perfect record as they captured the title of each competition along the way,
Although that winning streak ended in the State Finals last weekend, it was still an outstanding cheer campaign for the Porters. In their initial season in the coed division, they took home third place.
The final standings were: Belvidere North (93.97), Grant (91.60), and Lockport (89.91) were the top three. Plainfield South (86.36) was fourth, followed by Metea Valley (86.23), Guilford (85.03), Buffalo Grove (84.97), South Elgin (80.66), Glenbard East (80.59), and Shepard (80.34).
“We’re definitely happy,” Lockport coach Jenny Krumlinde said. “Our first time in the coed division here, with all the seasoned teams. Coed is a growing and very hard division, so we are happy with a trophy.
“For our seniors to get to walk across that podium [in the awards] was really special.”
The seniors are:Ariana Chudzik, Grace Crosby, Kenzie Fischer, Regan Reposh, Hannah Rimkus, Sydney Scherp, and Kara Skevis.
Two of the seniors, Reposh and Rimkus, were both 4-year varsity performers. This was their second time bringing home a trophy as they were both on the Porters second place large school division team in the 2014-2015 season. As one might expect, they were emotional afterward.
“We owe everything to coach Jenny,” Rimkus said of Krumlinde “For the last four years I’ve been so blessed to work with her. That was a once in a lifetime experience.
“Just knowing that [the state final] was my last hurrah, I wanted to go out on a high note and we did. We had to finish strong and it made me proud to be a part of Lockport. We had such a good team this season and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Reposh agreed.
“I’m just proud to be on the podium,” Reposh said. “It was a good season. We made a few mistakes [in the final on Saturday], but we had to keep it up and keep going. I’ll just remember all the friends I’ve made and coach Jenny too. She’s such a good coach and taught us so much, cheer wise and life wise.”
A majority of the team is juniors. Mackenzie Everett, Morgan Fahey, Jocelyn Gaydos, Rachael Howard, Brooke Johnston, Jacob Martinez, Grace Motisi, Hannah Park, Aubree Peters, Nina Piazza, and Libby Walton make up the junior class.
Alaina Alberico, Cassandra Rasp, Natalee Styrczula and Halle Sweis are the four sophomore and a trio of freshmen: Isabella Giertuga, Marissa Pasco, and Grady Travis round out the roster.
In the preliminary round, which was held on Friday, Feb. 2, the Porters placed second with a score of 90.57. Belvidere North (91.76) was first. Those scores do not, however, carry over to the final day.
With the third place finish, Lockport took home its eighth trophy in Competitive Cheer. That is the second best in the state behind Lemont, which won the medium school division for the second straight season and sixth time overall on Saturday. The Indians brought home their 12th trophy in the 13 years of the IHSA state tournament.
Making its third ever state appearance, Plainfield South had its highest finish. The Cougars placed ninth in the coed division last year.