La. 1 debt refinanced, saving taxpayers
December 30, 2013
Young guard giving Nicholls a spark
December 30, 2013
The Vandebilt Catholic cheerleading squad trained for months – depositing their blood, sweat and tears onto the mat to polish their routine.
And they did so because of a common goal. After finishing fourth in each of the past two seasons, the Terriers wanted to break through and win the state championship.
So with all of the training at their disposal, it all came down to one performance – a lone 150-second routine in Lake Charles for all of the marbles.
No pressure, ladies. But in the current format, all of the team’s work is judged by the fluidity and grace of that one final routine.
“It’s not like another sport where you have four quarters to ease into what you’re doing,” Vandebilt senior cheer captain Colleen Cheramie said. “You’re not competing against an opponent. You’re competing with yourself and a score sheet. It’s a very pressure-filled time because any one little slip or glitch can totally take away everything you’ve worked for.”
Vandebilt nailed it.
The Terriers performed without a hitch and earned the goal that they set during the preseason.
Vandebilt came back to Houma with the State Championship Trophy for the Large Varsity Division – their first in school history.
The team also won the championship for the Time-Out Division.
The accomplishments have coach Kayla Vicknair beaming with pride – two weekends after the Dec. 7 victory.
“I’m so proud of these girls – they’ve all worked so hard,” Vicknair said. “I am so happy for all that they’ve accomplished and for our seniors, I was so thrilled that they were all able to graduate on top, because this was a goal that we set for ourselves at the beginning of our season.”
For Vicknair and the Terriers, there was no time like the present to make a push for the title.
Cheerleading has only crowned state champions since 2011 – the first year that the LHSAA recognized cheering as a non-sanctioned varsity sport.
Vicknair has been with the program since that season – the inaugural year that Vandebilt competed for Louisiana’s top billing.
Vicknair said that in her first season with the team, she had a sophomore-laden group that was “incredibly talented” and “dedicated to the team and the sport.”
Because of those attributes, Vandebilt was able to compete with some of the best teams in Louisiana, but unable to take home the big trophy at the meet.
“We always believed we were ready for the big performance,” Cheramie said. “But for whatever reason, we just wouldn’t put it all together and we’d finish a few points short.”
But with that core group now seniors heading toward their final seasons, Vicknair said Vandebilt made it known early that they wanted to do better in 2013.
“The first thing the girls said at our first practice was that they wanted to win state this year,” Vicknair said. “Even though we finished fourth the past two years, we were really close. We were always within five points of first place. We knew that it was reachable.”
So with that goal in mind, Cheramie said she and the team went to work. Vandebilt’s captain said that the team stayed focused throughout the year in its attempt to conquer its goal.
Cheramie said the team had intense focus and made marked improvement with each performance.
“This was something that has been our goal from the first day that we got here,” Cheramie said. “But I think we wanted it a little bit more this year because when you go there twice and get the same result, obviously, you’re going to want to improve on that and get a different outcome.
“I don’t think that anything really went different or anything. We just worked harder and harder this year, because we all had in our minds throughout the year that this was something that we wanted to achieve.”
The improvements were made and were noticeable.
Vicknair said she was able to see right away that her team had taken the next step. The coach added that Vandebilt built on its routine week-by-week and added new wrinkles to their repertoire.
Vicknair said one of the biggest things that helped the squad was how difficult the team’s final routine ended up being.
“We got better and better each time we performed, and the more we realized that we could do, the more confident that we got as a team each day,” Vicknair said. “A competition routine is two minutes and 30 seconds. The first minute is a cheer and the next 90 seconds is a routine where you do stunts and everything.
“A lot of our routine was the same as we’ve done in the past. But we’ve had a lot more tumblers this year, so we had a lot of people with many different skills, so we brought it all together and had a challenging routine.”
But, of course, in cheerleading, it all comes down to that one performance.
Cheramie said she and her teammates were eager to perform to get retribution. She recalls her final address to the team before they took the stage.
“I just told them, ‘We’ve worked really hard and we know we have what it takes to get this done,’” Cheramie said. “There wasn’t really much of a need to say anything dramatic. We were ready.”
The performance backs up Cheramie’s statement.
The Terriers did their routine and earned the marks necessary to take home the title.
The senior captain said she knew as it finished that Vandebilt nailed it.
As the scores were announced, Vicknair said she was overcome with emotion – proud of her team for accomplishing their goal.
“We’ve come such a long way,” Vicknair said. “I was overcome with emotion and so happy for those girls. We’ve come a long way together as a team. To get this title is just the icing on the cake for us. They deserved it. We couldn’t be any happier for them.”
For Cheramie, the title marks her third of her prep career. The Vandebilt senior also won a pair of championships in bowling. She said she wouldn’t compare the two, simply saying that one word can describe her feelings.
“It’s great,” she said with a smile.
