Broncos Cheerleaders take third in

BY IVETTE FERNANDEZ

There were ecstatic cheers and tears of joy as the members of the Coral Reef Broncos cheerleading squad registered a third place finish during the 1999 Pop Warner National Competition conducted recently at Orlando's Walt Disney World Sports Complex.

Members of the Coral Reef Broncos PeeWee Cheerleading Squad (l-r) are (back row) Coach Shanna Fitton, Wilicia Hughes, Sara David, Raynarda Harris, Lindsey Gobus, Roxanne Figueroa, Jaycee Brown and Coach Tara Horner; (middle row) Jessica Lewis, Trista Horner, Yessica Martinez, Brittany Wechsler, Kaitlyn Flynn, Erika Baumgarther; (front row) Christina Cowart, Vanessa Figueroa, Christina Evans, Jenna Galardi and Jennifer Schrage.

It marked the first time in 20 years that a South Florida cheerleading team reached the national championships and placed in the top three. The dedicated girls and their coaches received a commemorative plaque for their efforts and returned home to a heartfelt welcome from their community.

The two-day competition, known as the Pop Warner Little Scholars Super Bowl World Championship, included both football and cheerleading competition. A total of 160 teams participated.

The Coral Reef Bronco PeeWee squad competed against 16 of the top cheerleading teams from around the United States. Some 10,000 participants and visitors attended the competition, considered an event of a lifetime for the qualifiers. The participants were invited to stay inside the Walt Disney Park during the event and the MGM Park was closed for an entire day for the Pop Warner group.

The 18-member Coral Reef squad and the coaches prepared diligently for the four months leading up to the nationals. The squad practiced four times a week, fine-tuning a series of rigorous dance and cheer routines and many of the girls added gymnastics workouts to the program. The team was judged on the difficulty of the stunts, choreography and overall presentation. The hard work culminated in a three-minute routine that was good enough for the third-place plaque.

The Coral Reef Broncos Cheerleaders winning streak started on Nov. 7, when the squad competed on the local level at the Greater Miami Pop Warner event at the Florida International University Panther Arena and earned first place over six other squads.

The team advanced to the United States Southeast Regional competition in Orlando on Thanksgiving Day to compete against 15 other squads from Florida, Georgia and Alabama. The cheerleaders again won, marking the first time a team from the South Florida tri-county area has ever won a regional event.

Attired in the purple and gold team colors and smiling brightly in the wake of their greatest team triumph, the girls were radiant in victory.

The Coral Reef Broncos cheerleaders are made up of girls, ages 9-12, and represent area schools, including Southwood, Pinecrest, Centennial, Richmond, McMillan, Palmetto and Ammons public schools, as well as Westminster, Perrine Baptist and Epiphany Academy private schools.

Tara Horner and Shanna Fitton, juniors at Westminster Christian School, have dedicated the last four years to coaching the Bronco PeeWee Cheerleaders. Both Horner and Fitton are varsity cheerleaders at Westminster, where Tara is captain. Their guidance and leadership developed a winning squad with a goal to continue to have fun cheering for the Coral Reef Broncos Football team and to prepare to return to the nationals next year.