Years ago, Lincoln-Way East competitive cheerleading coach Jayson Polad told Oak Forest coach Christine DiVenti it would be great if their teams could meet at the top of the state championship podium.
“We’ve known each other a long time and we’re good friends,” Polad said. “We said that it would have been special if we could do it the same year.”
The good news for both teams is that they both won Illinois High School Association state championships in 2021 with Oak Forest winning the Medium Team division and East winning the Large Team division.
The bad news for the two coaches is that neither team stood on the podium. The COVID-19 pandemic was still in full swing, and the state championships were determined by submitting videos. Teams found out they won via Zoom.
In 2022, Oak Forest finished second in Medium and Lincoln-Way East took fourth in Large, so it didn’t happen then, either.
Finally, on Saturday, the stars aligned and two teams finally won titles on the same day at a traditional live meet. They also set some state records in the process, and the area as a whole had a huge weekend at the state finals at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.
Oak Forest won its third title as the Bengals beat out South Suburban Conference foe Lemont 97.67-95.03 to win the Medium Team competition.
Lincoln-Way East won its state-best seventh title, notching a jaw-dropping 98.13. It was the best performance during a live state meet in history.
The Griffins’ 98.73 was the top score in 2021, but that was the video year when all of the scores were high because teams were able to send in their best performances.
The rest of the top 5 squads in the Large division all came from the SouthWest Suburban Conference with Lincoln-Way West (95.43) and Lockport (94.63) taking home second- and third-place trophies. Sandburg (94.37) and Lincoln-Way Central (91.98) followed, marking the first time in state history teams from one conference gobbled up the top five spots.
Oak Forest’s jump to the top caught some by surprise. The Bengals finished second to Burlington Central with a 92.80 at the Conant Sectional and third in Friday’s state preliminaries with a 92.57 before leaping up with the 97.67, which is the best Medium score in state history.
“This was so much fun because it was the first really normal weekend of cheerleading that we had so we’re grateful for that,” DiVenti said, referring to the COVID-19 year of 2021 and restrictions due to the pandemic in 2022. “Just being here with so much talent is great because Illinois cheer is stacked.”
Seeing the success of all of the other area schools was a boost to the Bengals.
“They all lift us up,” she said. “They all challenge us to be better by having that much talent. We’re lucky.”
Last year’s second-place finish may have been a heartbreaker to some but Bengals senior Katie Everitt savored it.
“It was the greatest accomplishment for our team, honestly, because it was a huge rebuilding year and we got to go out and give it everything we got,” she said. “It was everything we all could have imagined.
“And winning this trophy this year was like the cherry on the top of the cake.”
While Everitt was proudly holding the trophy in her arms after the meet, she said even if the Bengals hadn’t finished first, she still would have been happy.
“I’m so grateful for every single opportunity that this team gets — I’m so grateful to say that I even went to state,” she said.
Other members of the championship roster are Teegan Straniero, Colleen McMaster, Aubrie Kucinski, Lexi Pepper, Skylar Fannin, Chloe Prim, Brooklyn Kincade, Maddie Ozminkowski, Janiya Brown, Jessica Gron, Lillian Everitt, Maddie Brankin, Sarah Jensen, Eva Campbell and Anna Crotty.
Lincoln-Way East also failed to win its sectional, finishing second to Lockport, 97.37-97.33 at Bradley-Bourbonnais. The Griffins finished first in the preliminary round with a 95.33 before flirting with perfection in the finals.
After losing 14 seniors from last year’s team, Polad was not sure what to expect when the team hit the floor in Normal.
“There was some doubt and trepidation — they didn’t know if they could do and they had not been here before,” he said. “The season started out a little rough, but we kept building and pushing and here we are.”
The common theme for this year’s seniors was winning the video year, missing out on a trophy last season and culminating their careers with a trophy and setting a record.
“This year is much more rewarding,” said senior Kaitlyn Regnier, comparing the two state championships. “Instead of four weeks preparing, this was eight months of nonstop dedication and hard work for this outcome and it’s such an incredible feeling knowing that all that time that you spent is so worth it in the end.
“Although the COVID season was phenomenal, this season blows it away by a million.”
Others on the Griffins roster are Allie Collins, London Joy, Francesca Totosz, Emily LaValle, Isabella Talowski, Delaney Drogemuller, Marissa Mangin, Fiona Hilbert, Mairi Lehan, Kayla Reasonova, Kelly Hannigan, Rose Walenga, Lauren Ristich, Francesca Flaris, Sofia Aguilar, Courtney Mameris, Lauren Vander Kooi, Gianna Bianchini, Savannah Stolarek, Payten Dircks, Rian Willingham, Olivia Boswell and Gwen Drechsel.
In other area top-10 finishes, Providence Catholic took sixth in the Medium Team division with a 90.70 and Homewood-Flossmoor was eighth in the Coed division with a 90.97 after turning in a first-place preliminary score of 94.13.
Seven other area schools qualified for state but did not make it to the final round.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
