Penn Manor’s competition cheer team is flying to new heights this season.
“This will be a big challenge for us, we are competing against teams from all over the state,” said coach Cindy Bachman
Several weeks ago, the competition squad competed for the district 3 championship at Central Dauphin East. “This is the first year that Central Dauphin East has done anything with cheer leading, so this is big,” Bachman said.
The competition went well until Penn Manor’s squad got disqualified for an illegal stunt and 30 points was deducted from their score.
A hush fell over the crowed when the Comets weren’t announced for the first place trophy. The audience could see Penn Manor was by far the best team in that division.
“This is our sixth competition and it was never mentioned on score sheets,” said Bachman.
Penn Manor had a competition at home and had the head judge reviewed their stunts, they were all legal.
So what were the Central Dauphin East judges seeing or mistaking the stunts for?
That question couldn’t be answered and the girls just had to move on.
“It was definitely a shock when we got disqualified at the Central Dauphin East competition, but our team has such a great amount of spirit and talent that for the next competition we will give it our all and hopefully come out on top!”
“It was a shame, because the girls performance was one of the best I’ve seen in awhile,” said Bachman.
The next competition Penn Manor is attending is on January 15th in Harrisburg. As of now they don’t know how many teams are going to be competing against, but its being held in the Zembo Shrine building.
“This should be a very good competition,” said Bachman.
Bachman said they are really working hard and preparing for the championship. “We bumped up the routine, added more tumbling and added doubles in our stunts.”
With one of the most talented competition squads Cindy Bachman has had in awhile she has high hopes for them and expects a lot out of them. This could be one of there better years if not, the best.
This season, 2010-11, is the first year the competitive squad was opened to a wide range of ages. The grades of the girls vary from 8th to 12th, which was a great change from years in the past. Penn Manor gained a talented athlete, Hailey Spicer, youngest on the team is is a experienced flier and is the best tumbler on the squad. She is a great addition.
Cindy Bachman is very proud of the squad this year, “The girls have been working extremely hard, and they are very dedicated. They want to win this.”
The squad is following their motto, “We’re doin’ it!”
By Tyler Funk and Mary Treier