Cheerleaders Aim for National Recognition

Hillsborough High School's competitive cheer team heads to national competition in February.

Cheerleaders Aim for National Recognition

Hillsborough High School's competitive cheer team heads to national competition in February.

The 16 members of Hillsborough High School's competitive cheerleading team can move through their routine with smooth precision, turning, jumping and leaping in synchronized steps during Thursday's afternoon practice. Their carefully-choreographed routine earned them a trip to the National High School Cheerleading Championships Feb. 9 and 10, in Orlando, Fla. The team went last year, just missing advancement to the final rounds—but with seven members returning, the cheerleaders are heading south with high expectations. "This year, we have the potential," said sophomore Sam Goldstein, one of the cheerleaders from last year's team. "It just depends on us putting it together and 'sticking it' at the competition." Second-year head coach …

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Asst. Cheerleading Coaching Positions Eliminated

Assistant coach positions for winter track and field hockey are approved instead.

Two vacant Hillsborough High School cheerleader coaching positions were unanimously eliminated by the Board of Education on Monday night, but two other coaching positions were created. Scott Rocco, assistant superintendent for personnel, explained that the athletic department had recommended the change because of increased student participation in two other sports, winter track and field hockey, which necessitated the new positions. Rocco said more than 100 students, both boys and girls, are participating in winter track while the number of students in cheerleading has remained the same. Both cheerleading positions have been vacant during the current school year. Board member Jennifer Haley expressed concern about the elimination of the …

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Hillsborough Cheerleaders Going to Disney World

Raiders cheerleaders will compete in national competition.

Hillsborough High School’s competition cheerleading squad to Walt Disney World on the weekend of Feb. 11, to compete in a national cheer competition. The Raiders cheerleaders will now be one of approximately 60 teams nationwide with the chance at a national championship. The team will have to make it through the competition’s preliminary, semifinal and final rounds for the right to be called champions. Not bad for a team that has had to make adjustments on the fly due to injuries to several of its members. “We’ve had practice since August for this with choreography and gymnastics,” said Raiders Head Coach Jessica Fedroff. “We’ve actually had quite a few injuries, so we’ve had to change a lot of things. They’ve gotten through that, which …

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