Senior Cheerleaders Help Lead Squad Back to State

For the Broncos cheerleading squad, finishing in the top three at the Mid-Suburban League competition isn’t on their list of necessary wins. Instead the Mid-Suburban League meet helps the team focus on a bigger meet later in the season.

“We usually finish second or third in our division at the MSL meet, but we always come out (in the) top 10 at state,” Barrington varsity coach Laura Meehan said of the more important competition.

Barrington, who finished in seventh place at last year’s state meet in Bloomington, hosted this year’s Mid-Suburban League conference meet but was unable to utilize the home crowd advantage as the Buffalo Grove Bisons walked away with the top spot in the coed division while Elk Grove finished second and Fremd took third place.

“I was very pleased overall,” Meehan said after the team finished the six-team coed varsity division. “We’ve been working really hard on enthusiasm, spirit and cleanliness and I think that showed tonight.”

“We had some bobbles, but (the team) was clean and I was very excited that they still put on a great performance,” Meehan said.

The Mid-Suburban League meet, which continues to be a springboard for the run to the state meet over the recent years (considering a Mid-Suburban League team has held the state title since 2006), also doubles as senior recognition night — a chance to honor the heart of the Broncos team.

“This is the core of the group,” Meehan said of her 10 seniors. “They are self-motivated leaders, positive and really good kids.”

Meehan said she is relying heavily on her three senior co-captains Bryce Ebert, Gabi Skor and Courtney Valentine to help the team get back to the state meet, which begins with sectionals on Jan. 28.

“These are leaders in the school and on the mat too,” she said of her captains, who have been a stabilizing force on the team. “They are just wonderful.”

In other sports, the Mid-Suburban League meet would signify the winding down of the regular season and the jumpstart to the playoffs, but for cheerleaders the season is just getting started. 

“We still have regular-season competitions left and normal invitations,” Meehan said of what will help decide the team's positioning for their run to the state championship. “This was just part of our conference schedule and won’t really impact how we move forward.”