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38 | February 13, 2020 | the mokena messenger sports
mokenamessengerdaily.com
This Week In
KNIGHTS VARSITY
ATHLETICS
BOYS BASKETBALL
■Feb. ■ 13 – hosts LW West,
6:30 p.m.
■Feb. ■ 17 – at Southland
Prep, 6 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
■Feb. ■ 18 – IHSA Class 4A
regional, TBA
GIRLS BOWLING
■Feb. ■ 15 – IHSA East
Moline United Sectional at
Highland Park Bowl, Moline,
9 a.m.
WRESTLING
■Feb. ■ 14-15 – IHSA Class
3A Quincy Sectional, TBA
GRIFFINS VARSITY
ATHLETICS
BOYS BASKETBALL
■Feb. ■ 14 – at Homewood-
Flossmoor, 7 p.m.
■Feb. ■ 18 – hosts Naperville
Central, 6:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
■Feb. ■ 17-19 – IHSA Class
4A regional, TBA
GIRLS BOWLING
■Feb. ■ 15 – IHSA East
Moline United Sectional at
Highland Park Bowl, Moline,
9 a.m.
BOYS INDOOR TRACK
AND FIELD
■Feb. ■ 15 – at Homewood-
Flossmoor Invite, 10 a.m.
GIRLS INDOOR TRACK
AND FIELD
■Feb. ■ 14 – at Homewood-
Flossmoor quad, 5 p.m.
WRESTLING
■Feb. ■ 14-15 – IHSA Class
3A Quincy Sectional, TBA
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messenger.com
East cheerleading dynasty adds fifth state title
RANDY WHALEN, Freelance Reporter
A dynasty built on love.
That's what the Lincoln-Way
East cheerleading team has built.
The Griffins did it again, as they
captured first place in the large
school division of the IHSA state
cheerleading finals, which were
held Friday, Feb. 7, and Saturday,
Feb. 8, at Grossinger Motors Arena
in Bloomington.
It is the second straight state
championship and fifth in the past
seven seasons for East, which was
honored with a parade and trophy
presentation at the school on Sunday,
Feb. 9.
The Griffins tied Elk Grove,
which won the first five co-ed
titles, for the second-most state
championships in the 15-year history
of the state series. Lemont
leads with six, all in the medium
school division.
Every cheer trophy the Griffins
have won has been a first-place
one.
It is also the 17th state championship,
including a pair of coop
boys gymnastics ones, since
East opened 19 years ago. It is
the second this school year, following
the Class 8A football title
last fall.
"It's an incredible feeling," East
junior Grace Karana said. "It's just
being with every single person
you love. All our hard work has
paid off and it's amazing."
Karana is one of five All-South-
West Suburban Conference selections
for the Griffins. The others
are fellow three-year varsity junior
Alyssa Goodman, along with
seniors Emma Barnard, Karley
Kalchbrenner and Julia Zelenika.
East actually did not win the
SWSC title this season. In the
conference competition on Friday,
Jan. 24, the Griffins lost the conference
crown to Sandburg. But
they beat out two SWSC teams
on the final day for another state
championship.
"Honestly, this is what we've
been working for the last eight
months, toward the trophy," said
The Lincoln-Way East cheerleading team celebrates with the state
championship trophy after winning the large school title Saturday,
Feb. 8, at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. Photo submitted
Zelenika, a four-year varsity
member. "The crowd and all the
support and love here for us has
been amazing."
The Griffins’ score of 94.96
won the state title by over two
points. It was also the secondhighest
of their five championship
point totals, behind their
initial large school one (97.06) in
2014.
Stevenson (92.63) was second,
Marist (92.04) third, and Sandburg
(89.83) fourth. Yorkville
(89.51), Jacobs (89.07), Lincoln-
Way West (88.33), Edwardsville
(88.29), Joliet West (86.77), and
Huntley (85.31) rounded out the
top 10.
Of the 24 members of the East
cheer team, only six are seniors.
They are Barnard, Rylie Bolsoni,
Riley Feehery, Kalchbrenner, Sarah
Toussaint and Zelenika.
There are 10 juniors: Chloe
Brokop, Jackie Brown, Tiffani
Gergely, Goodman, Karana,
Devyn Mangin, Leah Ortiz, Lexy
Selvaggio, Sophia Sladek and Ava
Wise. The eight sophomores are
Peyton Anderson, Sophia Barnard,
Kylen Boundas, Emily Carusso,
Lexi Chiuccariello, Chloe
Friend, Adam Paul and Caroline
Roney.
"Our goal was to win, obviously,"
said Barnard, a three-year
varsity member. "But most of us
are out there because we love each
other. Yes, we work toward the
trophy, but our passion gives us
the drive."
There are 25 teams that advance
to the state finals in each class. In
the preliminaries, which were held
on Friday, Feb. 7, East (93.49) was
also first and Stevenson (90.04)
second. Those scores do not carry
over, however. So that allowed
Marist (88.93), which was fifth on
the first day, to move up to third.
It is the second repeat for the
Griffins, who also won back-toback
titles in 2014 and 2015.
That pattern of success is ingrained
in the cheerleaders well
before high school.
"Honestly, I wasn't satisfied
with just winning one," said Kalchbrenner,
who has been on the
varsity all four years and won
three titles. "When I was in the
seventh grade at Summit Hill, I
knew I wanted to be an East cheerleader
and win state titles. I'm so
proud of how hard we work, and
4
we definitely deserve this."
That feeling of wanting to accomplish
a state championship is
exactly what the couple of Jayson
and Julianne Polad were after
when they took over as coaches a
decade ago.
"It starts with the community,"
Jayson Polad said. "They are behind
the kids, and we can feel
that support and energy going up.
When we took over 10 years ago,
we would have the cheerleaders
go to the Frankfort Falcons games
and talk to the cheer girls there.
So, the community drives it.
"From there it's just our love for
the community, love for the school
and love for each other."
Lincoln-Way Central saw its
season end in the preliminary
round, placing 12th (84.68).
"It was not the ending we hoped
for, but we are so incredibly honored
and proud to be 12th in the
state," Central coach Danielle Emmart
said. "These Knights fought
so hard all season, never gave up,
and to have made it this far.
“We will continue to hold our
heads high and continue to be
proud of this journey and the
amazing accomplishment of making
it to the state tournament for
the third year in a row after a 10-
year hiatus. Congrats to our athletes
on an incredible season."
Central’s team members were
seniors Allison Ceh, Maddie
Fogle, Sophia Gambino, Aubrey
Lake, Rylee Richardson, Abbey
Schissler, Sydney Steffens, Allison
Tuskan and Lauren Urban,
juniors Kendall Cortese, Marissa
Elia, Katie Engerman, Mickayla
Kukowski, Elizabeth Miller, Jamie
Nightingale, Isabelle Vargas
and Sam Youngren, sophomores
Laila Pryor and Payton Vargas,
and freshmen Emma Boskey, On-
Drea Durka, Joey Hoffenkamp,
Kyra Kaczor and Abby Preski.
Providence, which included
Mokena residents Abaigeal Bandyk,
Chloe Floeckher and Hayley
Hitterman, finished 13th in the
medium team division, scoring
82.27.