Karns City cheerleading seeking more than D-9 title
COWANSVILLE — Karns City has been a District 9 power in football, boys and girls soccer and girls basketball.
Add competitive cheerleading to the list.
In only the program's fourth year of existence, the Gremlins claimed their first District 9 championship in the Medium Division. They topped a field of 11 teams at the district competition earlier this season in DuBois.
Karns City's first-year co-coaches this year are former junior high cheerleading coach Heather Strohmyer and former Butler competitive cheerleader Tracy Garing.
“We only had two seniors on the team last year. This year, we have eight,” Strohmyer said. “That additional leadership has made a difference.”
The squad's seniors include Alyssa Weibel, Brooke Moore, Madison Garing, Anna Sinz, Sydney Turner, Leah Hesidence, Claudia Kamenski and Lyndsey Deusphol.
KC is headed to Hershey this weekend and will compete in the PIAA State Competitive Spirit Championships Friday. The top six teams in District 9 qualify for the state event, a weekend of competition where teams are selected to advance from one round to the next.
“We've gone out there before, but have never gotten past the first day,” Strohmyer said.
So the Gremlins upped the ante this year. They entered a few more competitions than usual and hosted a Universal Cheerleading Association camp, where a UCA coach comes in and works with the girls.
One of those extra competitions this year was the Allegheny Regional at Slippery Rock University, where Karns City qualified for UCA Nationals in Orlando, Fla.
Due to lack of funding and available time, the Gremlins won't be making that trip — making the PIAA Championships their marquee event of the season.
“Our goal is to make it to the second day,” Madison Garing said. “That's never been done here.
“We go over our entire routine five or six times each practice. Then we break it down into parts we need to work on.”
The team only practices twice a week as many of the 22 girls on the team are involved in other school activities such as volleyball, soccer, drama club, musicals, etc.
“That's the big difference with a small school: Time availability,” Coach Garing said. “When I was at Butler, competitive cheering was all we did. Here, we have to work around everybody's schedule.
“The fact the team is doing this well while involved in so many other things shows their dedication.”
Some of the girls have background in gymnastics. Others don't.
“It's encouraged and it certainly helps,” Strohmyer said of gymnastics. “But we don't require it. We work with the skills we have.”Sinz is a member of the drama club. She used to compete in volleyball and track before a knee injury ended her time in those sports. She's worked at an ice cream shop as well.All of the Karns City competitive cheerleaders also work the Gremlins' football, boys and girls basketball games.“It's pretty busy,” Sinz said. “But I love the team bonding here. Everybody gets along and there's no fighting. You learn how to juggle your time.“I've gotten more confidence and learned how to work with other people in a team atmosphere through cheerleading.”The one other sport competitive cheerleaders can't participate in is basketball, due to the seasons completely overlapping.That forced Moore, a basketball player all through high school, to make a choice for her senior year.She may have been a starter on the hardwood this season, but opted for competitive cheering instead.“My teammates weren't very happy with me,” Moore admitted. “I had been a cheerleader through eighth grade before playing basketball.“I've missed it. This was my last chance to come back and give (competitive) cheering a try.”Olivia Coyle, a sophomore, is another former KC basketball player to join the cheerleading unit this season.Moore said there's no comparison as to which sport carries the most pressure.“Definitely cheerleading,” she said. “You make a mistake in basketball, you have the rest of the game to make up for it.“In a competitive routine, you get one chance. One mistake and it's done. We need to be spot-on.”Other cheerleaders comprising the Gremlin roster are juniors Kylie Ekas, Brooke Snow, Isabella Sanner, Olivia DeBacco, Sydnee Markle, Makayla Waltman, Samantha Hauser, Grace Bard and Brianna Parker, sophomores Raygen Scherer, Coyle, Zoe Bly, Rayna Miller and Kaley Byerly.“I coached a lot of these juniors and seniors in midgets, when they took first place in every category at the ABC youth football cheering competition,” Coach Garing said.“I could see they were good even then and they've stayed with it all this time.”
