Mascenic cheer team wins state title

Mascenic’s cheer team won the Division 3 Spirit State Championship Thursday, March 13, at Pinkerton Academy.

“It’s near impossible to sum up how amazing it feels to be coming home with the gold, but I will say it’s been a long time coming,” stated coach  Sandy Seppala. “We have senior athletes who have been working towards this accomplishment since freshman year. We have put out some amazing routines in past seasons but kept falling short and placed runner up. We have had a super successful season and went into states confident in the routine we had to perform, but at states anything can happen. To be able to place first not only for the athletes themselves but to also bring home the win for our school and community is a feeling that just can’t be described.” 

According to Seppala, consistency was a big goal for the team this season.

“Consistency so we could have a hit routine and be confident in the skills we were performing. Although a hit routine doesn’t always mean a winning routine, a hit routine definitely makes a big impact on the scores,” she stated. “We also focused on a lot of the little things that an untrained eye might not notice, but things the judges definitely would. I also feel that our energy on the mat made us a standout. We wanted an exciting routine that people just couldn’t stop watching.” 

The team consists of seniors Addison Gregg, Ella Keating, Emma MacInnis, Molly Seelley, Chirine Touzghar and Valerie Stenersen; juniors Gabriella Muhonen and Lyla Stauffeneker; sophomores Kiahna Farrey, Lea MacInnis and Kyra Veilleux; and freshmen Ashlynn Blood, Chloe Haavisto, Ellie Hinkel and Sadie Stevens. Coaches are Seppala and Kristen Stauffeneker.

The Lady Vikings will be competing at the New England Spirit Championship Saturday, March 22, in Worcester with a session start time of 10:30 a.m.