Cheerleading Squad Finishes Third In MEAC Championship

By Stephen Wilson

NORFOLK, Va. - The Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall is where dreams for 13 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) cheerleading teams would either materialize or crash and burn.

This was the third year that the Savannah State Cheerleading squad competed for a title. Sixth year head coach Kellie Fletcher has been molding this program just for the MEAC stage.

"Last year we were in 4th place, so I was very proud of coed's 3rd place achievement this year," Fletcher said.

It was the first year Fletcher was able to field two teams for the championship, an all-girls team as well as a coed team.
Although the squad's preparation for the competition seemed intact in the days leading up to the competition, the Tigers struggled when it came to the real deal.

"We had an amazing morning practice on March 9, and then had a great warm up that afternoon right before the competition actually started," Fletcher said. "We had great moments as both teams competed, but our amazing practice runs through that day, unfortunately, did not transfer to the mat."

The routine for the coed competition was chalked full of high difficulty stunts. The Tigers performed an array of advanced level tricks, but costly errors during the latter portion quelled their chances of a title.

"I felt as if we were going to do really well, I actually thought we were going to win," SSU main base Tiana Simmons said. "We had a really good chance of winning, but we had too many mistakes. We were focused but I think it was the adrenaline, because when we are at practice we hit everything consistently."

Although the girls fell short of their ultimate goal, this should be a well learned lesson. Cheerleading at Savannah State embodies the schools saying, "Tell them we are rising." It was evident from their performance that hard work and determination will get this program into the right direction.

"To me a third place finish this year means we are still progressing," Fletcher said. "Rome wasn't built in a day so, I'm still very proud of our success, especially going against great teams that have been competitive programs for decades."

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