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Bronx Cheerleaders Place Seventh at National Competition

By Eddie Small | February 14, 2017 1:57pm
 The James Monroe Eagles took seventh place in their division at the National High School Cheerleading Championship in Florida this past weekend.
The James Monroe Eagles took seventh place in their division at the National High School Cheerleading Championship in Florida this past weekend.
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Sonja Williams/Edwin Frias

SOUNDVIEW — A Bronx team that raised more than $30,000 to compete at the National High School Cheerleading Championship in Florida took seventh place in their division at the event.

The James Monroe Eagles, a team made up of students from schools at the James Monroe Educational Campus in Soundview, competed in the junior varsity non-tumbling division this past weekend in Orlando, where they came in seventh out of eight teams.

Sonja Williams, one of the team's coaches, said they were disappointed by the results of the competition but maintained that the overall experience was still very valuable, especially given that this was the first year the Eagles took part in the event.

"At first, they were a little bummed out," she said of the team, "but you know, after a while they kind of realized we did what we came to do, and being our first time here, just getting here was hard enough for us."

In order to afford the trip to Florida, the Eagles held a successful GoFundMe campaign that aimed to raise $30,000 and ultimately raised $33,185.

The team received a massive outpouring of support during their fundraising drive from places ranging from local elected officials to Degree Deodorant.

The Eagles qualified to compete at nationals after a regional competition on Dec. 10 on Long Island, and they made it into the finals at the Florida competition, according to Williams.

She said team members had a better attitude about how they placed at the competition after looking at it from a broader perspective and realizing they were seventh in the whole country.

"A lot of teams don’t even make it past preliminaries or semifinals, and we made it to finals," she said, "so that was a big accomplishment in itself."

It was also worthwhile for the team to simply get out of New York City, which Williams described as a very unique opportunity for some of the students.

"We had two people who had never flown before, so they were a little freaked out. One girl, she was crying. She wanted to get off," she said, "but, you know, once we got up in the air, she was fine."

The varsity cheerleading team at P.S. 307 in Vinegar Hill, which also held a fundraising campaign to get to nationals this year, competed as well, taking sixth place out of seven teams in the large junior high division.

Williams said the Eagles would "definitely" be coming back to nationals next year armed with more knowledge about the competition and an awareness that they can push themselves harder.

"I think now they have that energy," she said, "like, oh, we need to start working on next year for now."