Pine-Richland competitive spirit takes 9th at nationals

By: Kevin Lohman
Friday, February 28, 2020 | 11:24 PM

The Pine-Richland competitive spirit team recently brought its strong 2019-20 campaign to a close, finishing its season with a ninth-place finish in the small varsity division at the 2020 UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships on Feb. 7-9 in Orlando, Fla.

After battling with more than 50 of the most accomplished high school competitive spirit squads the United States has to offer over the first two days at the event, the Rams were one of only 13 teams that qualified for the final round.

This marked a significant achievement for coach Corey Doyle and his team, as he noted it is the first time in the last three years Pine-Richland has performed well enough to make it to the final round.

“It was definitely great for us to make it past the first two rounds and to just get ourselves into that final competition,” Doyle said. “The girls were in the right mindset the entire time. We really worked on our consistency this year and making sure that we could hit our skills consistently within our routine and not just outside of the routine. We worked on that a lot and it showed during this competition.”

The impressive performance at nationals brings Pine-Richland’s successful season to a close. In addition to taking ninth in their division at the nationwide event, the Rams also won the small varsity division at the WPIAL championships and took second place in the overall standings before moving on to grab a ninth-place in their division at the PIAA championships.

“It was a really good season,” Doyle said. “We were pretty consistent all year. From our first competition, our skills were noticeable. We went into WPIALs, got first place and runner-up in the overall and I think that just helped us continue to progress from then on.

“I just think this year, the girls went in to it a lot more confident in their abilities than they had in the past. The knew the skills were there and they performed very well in their routine. It really just all came together.”

The Pine-Richland competitive cheer team consists of Abby Casario, Emma Coleman, Sarah Vigna, Morgan Roupe, Jacqueline Gill, Amanda Marburger, Morgan Gierl, Taylor McWhirter, Sam Nudi, Abby Dewick, Kate Kwasnick, Emily Campbell and Caitlyn Abbate.

Tags: Pine-Richland