Raiders Cheer to Second Place in Division

Ramapo High School Cheerleaders placed second in their division this weekend at nationals. The team competed against four teams in their division and placed sixth overall out of 24 squads from across the country.

This is the second year that the squad has competed in the 2011 Youth and Recreation Cheer Nationals competition in the ESPN World Wide Sports Complex at Walt Disney World. Last year, the team placed fourth in their division and 12th out of 42 teams.

St. Thomas Moore took first place, ahead of the Ramapo cheer squad for the second year in a row, clinching the title.

“Overall, they did very well,” Coach Kristy McGoldrick said. “They can improve on their tumbling, but they did stunts well, and their pyramid and dance were phenomenal.”

The team was scored in six areas: tumbling, stunting, dance, overall appearance, precision and pyramids. They scored an 8 out of 9 in every category except for tumbling, in which they scored a 7.5.

Despite not taking first place, the girls are satisfied with their performance, McGoldrick said.

“The teams they lost to were phenomenal,” she said. “It’s not like they lost to anyone that wasn’t that good.”