April 2002
Cheerleading Quartet Wins National Championship
Southern takes 2nd place in team competition
Little did Kim Grappone and Vinnette Smith know
nine years ago that they would someday share a
special connection -- being teammates on a
national collegiate championship cheerleading
quartet.
The two Southern Connecticut State University
seniors had been friends since seventh grade
when they began Wallace Middle School together
in Waterbury. In high school, each went her own
way, with Grappone attending Sacred Heart and
Smith going to Crosby. But they maintained one
vital connection: Both were members of their
respective school's cheerleading squad.
Their education paths crossed again after high
school when both decided to attend Southern
Connecticut State University and join the Owls'
cheerleading squad. In their fourth and final year
on the team, the two combined their talents with
those of two other squad members, Nicole Russo
of Bay Shore, NY, and Jeanie Desaulnier of Dudley,
Mass., to win the national all-girl stunt competition.
The stunt event involves teams of four, with three cheerleaders lifting and catching a fourth member, who is flung into the air while executing somersaults and other acrobatic moves before landing in the arms of her teammates. The foursome took first place among 15 finalists during the recent national championship in Orlando, Fla.
"It's an incredible feeling," Grappone says. "Every cheerleader wants to win a national championship, but only a few get to experience that accomplishment."
Smith agrees. "We came in second last year and we were really pushing for first place this year. But after you've won, it really doesn't hit you for awhile."
The quartet was one of four SCSU entrants that qualified for a spot in the finals and placed among the top nine. No other college in the country had more than two squads that earned a berth in the finals in that category. Some 50 squads from throughout the country participate in the all-girl stunt competition and a group of judges from the Universal Cheerleading Association choose the 15 finalists based on a one-minute routine performed on videotape.
The competition in Orlando was especially rewarding for the Owls this year. Not only did they win a national title in the all-girl stunt event and place four squads in the top nine in the country, but the 26-woman cheerleading squad finished second in the Division II team competition. It marked the second year in a row that the university garnered the runner-up spot.
"If I had to pinpoint one quality about this team, it would have to be its dedication," says Trish Lenda, an assistant cheerleading coach.
She notes that the team practices 15 to 18 hours a week, which includes a rigorous conditioning program. "In one of the programs we use, the girls practice a part of the routine for about 35 seconds, followed immediately by 15 or 20 seconds of jogging. They go back into their routine and we repeat this non-stop for about 45 minutes."
But it is the students' academic success that sparks a special smile on the face of Lenda, who works full time as an academic adviser at SCSU. She notes that the team had a GPA of better than a 3.1, which is between a "B" and a "B-plus."
Cheryl Thomes, who formerly coached the Holy Cross High School cheerleading team in Waterbury, and now the owner of the Cheerleading Training Center at, 1261 Meriden Road Waterbury/Wolcott, CT. also serves as an assistant coach. B
