THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604190202
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 35 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, CLIPPER SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Anyone who ventures to an Atlantic Shores athletic event these days is getting two shows for the price of one.
While the Seahawks are out on the field or in the gym, the nationally ranked cheerleaders are along the sidelines doing what they do best.
Fans might see a halftime show that earned the Atlantic Shores cheerleaders third place in the 15th annual Eastern Cheerleaders Association Invitational Championship held in Williamsburg last month. Or they might get a glimpse of four cheerleaders - sophomore Jamie Zimmerman, juniors Chrissy Brown and Laura Brou and senior Kelly Bullock - honored as All-Americans. All but Bullock, who will attend Liberty University next year, will be among the high school cheerleaders selected to participate at the 1997 Pro Bowl in Honolulu.
``Last year, we went to the same tournament and got honorable mention in the open and invitational competition,'' coach Joy Bryant said. ``This is the first year we've placed.''
Bryant said her squad - comprised of 14 girls and eight boys - impressed the judges with the level of difficulty of its stunts and a clean routine.
``We did basket tosses, heel stretches, liberties, single extensions and pyramid-type things along with dancing and gymnastics,'' Bryant said. ``We had a pretty good difficulty level and stuck our stunts. Even if a routine is more simple, it's more important to the judges that it be clean.''
The hardest part of the competition, she said, was convincing guys to come out for the team back in January.
``Like at any other school, it's not cool to be a guy cheerleader,'' Bryant said. ``We had to convince them that they'd be doing stunts and throwing girls around.
``It's so much more athletic than it used to be. When I was a cheerleader decades ago, you didn't have that danger element or the stunts. There's so much more to it now.''
And the Seahawks got a chance to see firsthand how much more there really was.
Over 5,800 cheerleaders representing 15 states participated in the Invitational championship. The first day of competition was open to all squads, but teams had to either win their camp, a regional competition, a trophy or honorable mention to be invited to the finals.
``It was a lot of fun,'' All-American Kelly Bullock said. ``We got to see people compete from everywhere and saw different styles of cheering.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
The Atlantic Shores team took third place in the national
competition.
by CNB