While the opposing teams all outnumbered them, the Slippery Rock cheer squad of Sam Longdon, left, Julia Staudacher, Jesse Staudacher and Madison Roxbury won respect — and two categories — at the Universal Cheerleaders Associated camp at Slippery Rock University earlier this summer.

SLIPPERY ROCK — Strength doesn't always come in numbers — just ask Sam Longdon, Madison Roxbury, and Julia and Jesse Staudacher.

That quartet banded together as a Slippery Rock team at the Universal Cheerleaders Association camp earlier this summer at Slippery Rock University.

Despite going up against squads ranging in size from 12 to 45 girls, the Slippery Rock contingent finished first in two categories, third in two others and took home five gold ribbons.

The Slippery Rock High cheerleading team's coach was having a baby and resigned at the end of the season. Left without an official adviser, the cheerleaders were unable to attend the UCA camp as a school-sponsored event.

Wendy Staudacher, Julia and Jessie's mother, decided to give the girls the opportunity regardless.

"Slippery Rock hadn't gone to this camp in a few years and the girls who tried out for cheerleading were told they could go this year," Staudacher said. "I didn't want to see them miss out."

So Staudacher rented the ski lodge at the university, opened it for cheerleaders and their parents, and supervised their preparation for the camp.

"We had 13 to 15 girls interested at first," Staudacher said. "Then a new coach was hired and girls started dropping out of the camp thing.

"Everything was up in the air. There was confusion. A lot of the girls thought they might get in trouble if they went. It was all rumors," she added.

Only the aforementioned four girls remained.

But because it wasn't a school-sponsored team, the girls were denied access to school uniforms and pompoms.

Instead, the girls created matching outfits for all four days of the camp.

"They dyed some T-shirts to look the same. It was very creative work," said Jennifer Roxbury, Madison's mother.

Slippery Rock competed in the nine-team junior varsity division at the camp, which attracted teams from 20 schools.

"There were only four of them, but they competed hard," Roxbury said about the Slippery Rock girls. "They were recognized by the UCA staff for their leadership, dedication to cheerleading and overall attitude."

The quartet captured first places in fight song and overall improvement. The girls took third place in the extreme routine competition and cheer competition.

Performing a routine as a foursome is radically different from doing so as a full team.

"I wasn't really nervous," Longdon said. "We worked on our song for a few hours. We knew what we were doing."

Longdon and Julia Staudacher will be juniors at at Slippery Rock, Jessie Staudacher will be a freshman and Roxbury will be an eighth-grader.

"These girls had the spirit to do this," the elder Staudacher said. "And the bigger teams kind of adopted us. Cheerleaders have the reputation of being catty. ... This was nothing like that.

"This turned into a very positive experience for all of us," she added.

<br>

From left - Sam Longdon, Julia Staudacher, Jesse Staudacher and Madison Roxbury