Thursday, October 1, 2026
Oceanside’s varsity cheerleading squad earned the Universal Cheerleading Association Empire Regional Game Day Championship Dec. 12 at Wantagh High School and is headed to Orlando in February to compete in the UCA Nationals.
It’s the seventh straight season Oceanside qualified for UCA Nationals, which were not held last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The 15-member co-ed squad, coached by Samantha Chaback, will head to Florida Feb. 10 and return home Feb. 14.
“It’s exciting,” said Chaback, who noted the team practices five days a week and finished third in Nassau County in 2020. “We fundraise as best as we can for nationals, and whatever isn’t raised comes out of pocket.”
Captained by seniors Matthew Guglielmo and Minzi Hong, Oceanside’s winning Game Day 3-minute cheer consisted of four mandatory components. The squad, which also includes seniors Christina Calabrese, Ashley Dowd, Faith Grullon, Ashley Jairam, Catherine Marino and Lexi Thailer, juniors Victoria Myrtil and Josie Zaccoli, sophomores Sydney Cener, Olivia Ikes and Tara Steiger, and freshmen Ashley Camacho and Kaitlyn Varriale, took first place in Traditional Routine (2 minutes, 30 seconds) in meets held at Farmingdale and Bethpage in December and placed third in the UCA event.
