Mater Dei Prep’s 12-person cheerleading squad captured the NCA High School Open National Championship in the Small Varsity Novice High School Division at a competition in Saint Charles, Missouri. In addition, the Seraphs were awarded “best use of stunts” in the overall competition that featured teams all across the country. Participating in NCA Open Nationals required an original two-and-a-half minute routine consisting of five elements: dance, cheer, stunt, jump and tumble.
“It is such an amazing feeling to win the title but also a specialty award to bring back home to the prep,” said Stefanie DiPoalo, varsity cheer head coach.
“When preparing for a competition like this all you hope for is to go in and hit a solid clean routine. You only have one time to show the judges what you are made of and that day Mater Dei Prep shined and we couldn’t have asked anything more from the girls. Winning was just icing on the cake.
“The Mater Dei Prep Varsity competition team has big things planned for the future but we couldn’t do it without the amazing support we have from the students, school and administration,” DiPoalo said.
Mater Dei Prep Cheerleading Team (in alphabetical order):
Angel Decapua, junior; Alyssa DiGregorio, freshman; Tara-Lynn Francisco, junior; Jule Gallo, sophomore; Kayla Greiss, sophomore; Jess Mandile, sophomore; Lauren Matuszewski, senior; Emily Morgan, junior; Nicole Smith, senior; Mackensie Stimpson, senior; Amanda Zeuschner, sophomore; Franchesca Zilinski, freshman; Stefanie DiPoalo, varsity cheer head coach; Cheryl Morgan, assistant varsity coach.
