Wantagh cheers its way to a win

Two Sundays ago, more than 800 people gathered in the Wantagh High School gym for the Nassau County cheerleading championship — many of them wearing black and gold, the school’s colors. 

Twelve cheerleaders took to the nine striped, blue-paneled mats, held together by Velcro. With hair pinned back in low ponytails, wearing gold bows and with lips turned upward in cherry-red smiles, the girls were ready to show off everything they had been perfecting for seven months.

The other Nassau teams were waiting for a fall, but it didn’t happen. A 2-minute-and-30-second routine was packed with nonstop flipping and dancing, but there were no falls. 

“As soon as we hit the routine, I felt such a relief,” senior captain Allyson Ottomano said. “We knew that all we had to do was hit, and we didn’t care what happened after that.”

History was made that day, as the Wantagh cheerleading team took home the Small Varsity Division 1 title in front of their home crowd. Tears of joy flowed from many Wantagh supporters as the girls claimed their victory. Neighboring MacArthur High School, in Levittown, took second place, while Freeport rounded out the top three.

“I like having a county championship. because everyone from all walks of life understands what that is, as opposed to a UCA championship,” Wantagh Coach Jenna Schwartz said, referring to the Universal Cheerleaders Association, which hosts national competitions. “I think it’s great that they’re finally getting the accolades that they deserve from the people in their community.” 

With varsity cheerleading now governed by state rules and regulations, the two-season sport is changing dramatically. With a county championship under their belts, the Lady Warriors will compete in the first-ever state tournament at Onondaga College in Syracuse on Saturday. Fellow Nassau County squads Clarke (Small II), Plainedge (Large I), Bethpage (Large II) and Valley Stream North (Co-Ed) have also secured trips upstate.