Cheerleading: Providence caps perfect season
By Jeff Vorva For Sun-Times Media March 1, 2013 11:40PM
Updated: April 4, 2013 6:40AM
When Providence coach Laura Duesing says her team enjoyed a “perfect season,” she means it literally.
The Celtics finished the 2012-13 campaign by winning the grand championship at the National Cheerleaders Association meet Feb. 23 in Louisville, Ky., with a score of 94.87. They competed in the small varsity division but earned the highest score of any of the 18 teams competing, regardless of division. The Celtics also won the Best Tumbling and Innovative Choreography Award.
The national win closes a season in which the Celtics won all of their invitational competitions plus their third straight IHSA sectional title and first IHSA state title.
“It’s been quite a season, that’s for sure,” Duesing said. “What are the chances of having a perfect season? We were undefeated and had the top score of every competition we went to. Most coaches don’t see that very often.”
The meet in Kentucky brought out many different emotions, especially for the nine seniors who performed in their last competitive meet together.
“It’s always fun to go up against different teams that you don’t know anything about,” Duesing said. “But it was sentimental, too. We had a completely undefeated season and then went to nationals and it was icing on the cake. But there were tears knowing it was going to be the last time they would perform together.
“The underclassmen were hugging the seniors and one of the seniors, bless her heart, said ‘This is going to be the last time I’m taking off this uniform.’ We’re going to miss those nine seniors but we have a good group going forward and that’s what you look for.”
Duesing said a couple of the seniors hope to continue to cheerlead in college.
For now they can bask in the glory.
Last week, they were honored by the New Lenox Village Board and the Cook County Commissioners office.
Then there was designing the championship ring.
“Talk about special moments or sentimental moments, that was a really fun experience,” Duesing said. “A lot of the girls say they are going to wear their rings to prom and another girl said she would wear it on her wedding day.”
Seniors on the squad are Brianna Chibe, Alyssa Gialamas, Courtney McEnery, Alyssa Meurer, Lauren Murphy, Roslyn Parayo, Gabriella Senese, Bailey Sineni and Taylor Vennetti.
Juniors are Brittany Charnot, Morgan Duesing, Skylar Evans, Megan Marth and Tori Vennetti.
Sophomore Maryssa Presbitero and freshmen Allison Bebar, Sera Cummings, Bridget Fudala, Nicole Glynn, Dana Joseph, and Carson Sineni also were on the squad.
The Celtics JV squad took second in the nation in the NCA meet.
