'I have never been more proud': Narragansett Regional cheerleaders make history

A long season of preparing, practicing and perfecting paid off. The Narragansett Regional cheer team returned from Hershey, Penn. with its new title of National Champion.

Last week, the Warriors cheer squad traveled to Hershey for the Eastern National High School Cheerleading Championships. After a successful winter competition season, earning first at the league championship and fourth at the regional championship, the team was set for their final endeavor of the year – Nationals.

The hard work and determination was evident by the way the team performed at Nationals, hitting its jumps and stunts and staying in sync for the choreography. The team and coaches agreed they thought it was a good performance, but it was all up to the judges, and they had to simply wait and see.

“We had a really high score of 89 out of 100 which is our best score all season, they hit the best routine by far,” said Narragansett head cheer coach Megan Hazelton.

As awards began, Narragansett huddled together on the mat, holding one another’s hands with their heads down and eyes closed. It was the typical ritual for an awards ceremony, but this was the ultimate stage. Finally, the Warriors heard their name come over the speaker and the moment they had been working for since the fall had come.

More: Best of lacrosse: Four Oakmont, Monty Tech games to mark on your calendars

They were bringing home Narragansett’s first-ever national title in cheer. They not only won their division, they were announced once again as the grand national champions, boasting the highest score out of all teams at the competition. It was the highest accolade for the championship.

“This is one of the best things I have ever done with my life – become a coach,” said assistant cheer coach Gabby O’Malley. “I have coached some of the most amazing children.”

"Genuinely this team, I have never been more proud of a team of athletes that I've coached. These kids made Gansett history and that's not done every day."

The announcers called out “Nagaransett,” mispronouncing the school’s name and confusing the girls for a moment, but they quickly all realized it was them who had won and broke into celebration.

“It was really crazy to hear our names being called first, there were so many great teams there… it's something I have always wanted to accomplish and something my team has always wanted to accomplish,” senior Kasey Lovewell said.

After a rollercoaster of a season – struggling in the fall to find their team chemistry, changing the entirety of their routine and perfecting it over the course of the winter – the Warriors can finally take a breath. However, the breath of relief didn’t last long, as the next thing they had to do was say goodbye to the seniors and O’Malley.

More: Senior leadership and team bond helps Quabbin tennis to undefeated start to season

There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as the five seniors – Lovewell, Ava Lyskawa, Madison Philbin, Jillian O’Malley and Gabby Warren – gathered together over the cheer mats, doing the annual “signing off”. On the back of the mats, they wrote their farewell messages along with their signatures as their teammates watched on with tears streaming down their faces.

“I’m just really happy that we completed what we wanted to do, especially what I said last time, all we wanted to do was make everyone proud and we went above and beyond with that and that's probably the best thing I could possibly ask for,” said Lyskawa, feeling the bittersweet moment.

“It’s just so crazy it's hard to articulate how we feel, it was our life for so long and now we did the dang thing!” Philbin exclaimed.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Narragansett Regional wins national cheerleading championship