Babylon Cheerleaders Are a Competitive Bunch

There were no big expectations when the Babylon girls cheerleading squad decided to enter the Long Island Cheerleading Coaches' Association competition this year.

First off, the school's cheer squad has historically avoided competition and focused mainly on supporting the boys basketball efforts and firing up student audiences during pep rallies.

Second, the squad's first foray into the LICCA event last year landed a fifth-place finish.

But that finish wasn't good enough for Captains Christy Necroto and Jennifer Banks, or teammates Korina Sanchez, Krista Virga and Abigail Carlock .

This year brought a new coach in Babylon alumnus, Jeanne Allen, and a new work ethic that kept them practicing seven days per week.

“People underestimated us. We didn’t get a lot of respect from other teams or even from kids around the school and they would make fun of us,” said Necroto. 

The mocking typically comes from a lack of understanding of how challenging cheerleading is as a sport. There are black eyes from flying elbows and injuries suffered in practing human pyramids. And practice isn't easy under Allen. Workouts are typically three hours a day, seven days a week in preparation for the competition.

The hard work and dedication paid off when the squad took fourth place at LICCA this year.

“It felt good to prove people wrong when we placed,” said Necroto.

To put the achievement in perspective, Babylon is a very young team in the competition. The first, second and third place teams all have a long tradition of competing and winning and have been working on competition routines since the summer.  Those teams also participate in up to 12 competitions throughout the year. 

Babylon, in contrast, only participates in two competitions, and they put together their winning routine in about a month with the help of choreography by recent Babylon grad, and present college cheerleader, Meagan Tribby.  

When asked what attributed most to their success, the girls talk about their hard work, the long hours and Allen's coaching support. 

“She didn’t know all that much about cheerleading at first, but she was like a mom to us,” said Junior Krista Virga. “She brought us closer together as a team.”

Injuries and health issues plagued the team from the start with Banks out sick, and others with injuries and which forced the team to pull up a JV player, giving eighth grader Kendall McMillan a rare opportunity. 

"She did awesome,” recalls Carlock.

And did the team celebrate their success? Yes they did.

“Oh my god,” Virga and Sanchez said. “We celebrated like we took first place!  We were going crazy.  Even the judges at the competition commented on how nice it was to see a team that cared so much,” said Virga.