About Southern Connecticut State University Cheerleading

Victory!

By Kevin Miner

Sports Editor

Some people, with their backs pressed to the wall, feel the need to

run for cover. Others, with the irrepressible desire to succeed, look

the face of competition in the eye and exclaim, “Bring it on!”

That is precisely what the Southern Connecticut State University

Cheerleading club accomplished during the 2004 winter break.

On January 17th at the Cheerleading Association National College

Championships in Orlando Florida, the Owls cheerleading squad

finished third overall, with their stunt team walking away with a

first place finish.

“Obviously, in any athletic competition you strive for the 1st place

win,” said head coach Tricia Lenda.

“But the 3rd place team win was nothing to be ashamed of. We hit

out routine for the first time in Finals that Saturday.” Lenda attributed

the success of the team to the rigorous training ethic of the team

combined with the resounding energy that the cheerleaders had in

wake of former head coach Bob Beach’s dismissal from the team in

October.

“I can honestly say that the incident with Bob Beach made us a

stronger team. Practices were more enduring and the level of

difficulty in our routine was more significant.”

For one particular stunt team, the level of training proved to be all the difference in a first place finish. The team, which comprised Kimberly Grappone, Jeanie Desaulnier, Jennifer Malash and Aimee Piccin, finished a whopping 42 points ahead of the of second place Fairmont College. The stunt team practiced daily for what Lenda described as a “picture perfect performance.”

Not one to sit on her laurels, Lenda has already set her sights on next year, undergoing ambitious changes in the tumbling sequence and aggressively recruiting new athletes. Because of the their recent victory in Florida, some students from nearby states have looked into Southern’s cheerleading program.