UNH Cheering Comes A Long Way, Grabs National Title

Note: Interested in helping the UNH cheerleaders in their quest for a second straight national title? Tryouts for the 2017-18 cheerleading squad are Saturday, May 13 from noon to 6 in Lundholm Gymnasium. More information below.

For the first time in UNH cheerleading history, the Wildcats took home a national championship last month.

The National Cheerleading Association (NCA) competition is held annually in Daytona Beach, Fla., and is a weekend filled with dance and cheerleading teams from colleges and universities across the nation.

The Wildcats came a long way and played a bit of an underdog role in 2016-17.

The cheerleading squad was revamped during the summer of 2016 and coaches Scott Rigoli and Brad Burlamachi were brought on to lead a revitalized and reenergized group that had lofty goals.

The team came together in October after tryouts and that's when they really got the ball rolling. The coaches quickly realized how athletic the cheerleaders were.

During the fall, in order to get a bid to nationals, the team had to put together a time-consuming video, which took about 18 hours of filming and practice to complete. The coaches sent in the video to the NCA and during winter break the team heard they had qualified to attend the competition.

"These girls are athletes, and they're tremendously skilled," Burlamachi said. "They can handle being pushed and they can handle the high level of difficulty we were trying to put into the routine."

After the team found out they'd be attending the national championship, the choreography and crunch time began. Both coaches stated how well the team had bonded since the fall, especially throughout their extensive practices and choreography sessions.

During the NCA college nationals, each school competes in a different division and there are different competitors annually. There is a day one where teams can compete and hopefully score high enough to be passed onto day two. The first two years UNH attended nationals, they never made it to day two, so this year, that was one of the main goals.

Cheerleading conferences are determined by size of the institution and UNH fell into the All-Girl I division. The Wildcats competed against seven teams including Sam Houston State University, Morgan State University, Towson, and Harvard.

The way the division shook out, the team found out it was automatically going to make it to day two and that enabled goals to shift and focus to be redirected on the team and its performance and approach to the nationals.

"We were definitely more relaxed," junior Karissa Young said. "We were just so excited that we were going to be on the band shell (the outdoor competition stage for day two). It just kind of pushed us a bit more but in a better direction. Before we were just pushing ourselves because we were stressed and just wanted to make it to day two."

The coaches provided the push.

"We would condition for so long in the beginning of practice," said junior Nicole Swartz. "We would work tumbling and then we would work stunts and perfect everything. Things got easier and easier as the season went on."

Coach Burlamachi stressed the fact that no one would see this "brand new" UNH team coming. He frequently told the cheerleaders to just go for it and give it their all.

During the national competition, while preforming on the band shell, the nerves began to set in. The Wildcats competed in the preliminary round during the first day and adjusted their routine for the final round based on that score sheet.

UNH made it at the top of its division going into the finals. This created the opportunity for the Wildcats to perform during "primetime" - when the entire stage is lit up by the sun, around 3:30 p.m. - on the dream that is the band shell.

Rigoli said his team was most excited to just go get that experience, because it is one unlike any other for a collegiate cheerleader.

In years past, nerves would set in earlier for the girls, but this year was different. The Wildcats made it further than they ever had before and decided to change their mindsets and try their hardest for this once in a lifetime experience. After a few tries and refocusing, the Wildcats hit the stage.

"The walk from the warm up area to the performance area is probably about a 20-minute walk and it was just silent the whole time," Rigoli said.

"I was nervous but I wasn't as nervous as I'd been the past two years because we trusted each other and we trusted our team, "Swartz said. "We couldn't have been more prepared and our team is such a performance team that I knew we were going to do good."

The Wildcats were set to perform.

"There are so many risks of things going wrong," Rigoli said. "No matter how good you are, even the best teams in the country make mistakes."

UNH had a fast-paced, well-performed, energetic routine that was hitting each time.

The final competition was over and the team immediately believed it was successful based on the looks from the coaches on the sideline.

"Honestly, I don't even remember it," sophomore Nicole DeChristoforo said.
"I remember looking out at all the people and it was just over."

Since collegiate routines are short and fast-paced, it's easy to be overtaken by adrenaline once that music starts, Young said.

"All of a sudden the music started and I just blacked out and did not have an idea it was over," she said. "During our pyramid when it hit I just saw Scott and Brad freaking out and after that I knew we hit."

After the routine, the Wildcats celebrated privately with proud smiles. It was then time to move on to the awards ceremony and the announcement of who finished where in the competition, which is always the most surprising part of the competition.

During the announcements of places, UNH had not been called for the first few rounds, so the Wildcats knew they had moved up to a better place. Then, when Towson got third the team got excited because the realization set in that they could actually place second or first in this national competition.

UNH thought they would hold second place, like the previous day, but when the announcers called Sam Houston State as second place, the Wildcats started to whoop it up because that was the moment they knew they got first.

For the first time in UNH cheerleading history, the Wildcats had been named national champions.

"This trophy means more than just winning," junior Emma Goulet said. "Yes, it's proof of the entire NCA, but it means all the work we've done and it means the entire program to us."

The girls explained this year's championship was like a "new UNH," Swartz said. "We had new coaches, new uniforms, and no one was expecting us."

The Wildcats were, in fact, the only team across all the divisions that won first place and did not have a single athlete that had ever competed on the band shell before.

"It's the best possible win that we could possibly have," said Young, a proud leader of the team.

Bringing home a national title for UNH, this was more than just an annual competition.

The cheerleading team, rebuilt in the summer of 2016, came all the way back to become national champions in 2017. It's already time for tryouts for next year's squad.

The goal of the coaches and cheerleaders: A repeat championship in 2018.

Note: Saturday's tryouts for the 2017-18 cheerleading team are scheduled to run from noon to 6 p.m. in Lundholm Gymnasium in the UNH Field House. Registration and more information is available by CLICKING HERE.

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Nicole DeChristoforo

Emma Goulet

Nicole Swartz

Karissa Young

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