Frannie Chevalier was among the numerous Lyons Township High School competitive cheerleading seniors sitting as a team in a circle awaiting results from the West Suburban Conference Meet.
Hoping for the best, this time the Lions were the best. They had just won conference for the first time, Jan. 15, at Hinsdale South.
“That was one of the best moments I’ve ever experienced in my life, and I think the rest of the team can say the same,” Chevalier said. “We all stood up and hugged each other, crying, laughing. It was an awesome experience knowing all of the things the seniors went through this year. All of that work and effort made us conference champions.”
The greatest postseason ever had just begun. The Lions earned their third straight trip to the state meet in the Co-ed Division and finished a program-best 16th (88.86 points) in the preliminaries, Feb. 2, in Bloomington.
Team members are seniors Samantha Borkowski, Chevalier, Tommy Chyna, Ally Colantuono, Charlotte Judy, Val Kleier, Grace Maciag, Jillyan Martinez, Ashley Mills, Molly Peake, Sadie Rintz, Emily Roberts, Mia Schlichter, Will Taylor and Ella Thornberg; juniors Maddie Brennan, Meg Gray, Grace Lannon, Devon Mackenzie, Melissa Marquez, Annie Sarno and Katie Villarreal; and freshmen Averie Grigus, Hayden Livingston, Audreya Wilkins and Aleigh Zeman. They are coached by Sharon Lupo and Ana Samaniego.
The state routine truly couldn’t have gone much better. The Lions had zero deductions.
“All we really wanted was to hit a good routine for our last time, especially the seniors, and that’s what we did,” Schlichter said.
Fourth-year team members Chevalier and Schlichter are among many seniors who have been part of all three state trips — the only ones in program history.
The Lions improved upon finishing 22nd at state in both 2023 (83.47) and 2022 (84.23). They qualified for state with third place at the Hinsdale South Sectional (90.17).
“This season our greatest accomplishment was winning conference. Placing third at sectionals and going to state was a bonus,” Lupo responded.
“As disappointing as it was to not go to day two at state [for top 10 preliminary finishers] we still had the accomplishment of hitting zero, no deductions, in the routine. That is something to be proud of.”
The seniors have mirrored the growth of the program. The first state trip was even more impressive considering Lupo and Samaniego took over as coaches midway through the season.
“That [season] changed our perspective on things. We kind of felt more hopeful we could hit harder and better skills and keep pushing,” Schlichter said. “We’ve been cheering for like eight years now, since we were kids. We had the same mindset. We love to win and do well at our practices and competitions.”
More than half of the team are seniors, but the future still looks promising. The Lions’ junior varsity also claimed the WSC title.
“All of us [seniors] growing together really brought us together and made us work even harder to get the best team possible,” Chevalier said. “I think all of our positive attitudes and experience definitely helped [the underclassmen] get more comfortable.
“We hope we’ve left everybody prideful and happy that they got to experience being on the team with us.”
LTHS/RRHS pom dance
The Lions once again were impressive at the Illinois Drill Team Association state meet, Feb. 10, in Springfield.
The varsity won AAA Division titles in open pom and lyrical. The 284.9 lyrical score tied Washington for the high-point award.
The junior varsity was grand champion (477.2) after winning lyrical with a high-point 242.2 and taking second in open pom and jazz.
The Bulldogs were third in AAA jazz. Competition team members were seniors Alexa Cavaliere and Mae Jameson; juniors Maya Gonzalez, Sofia Lee and Anna Pinnick; sophomores Aubrey Agne, Isabella Kirsch, Sofia Miller, Lilana Nieto, Kailyn Novak, Mia Royer and Sadie Towers; and freshmen Samantha Bolt, Avery Cavaliere, Addie Segura and Annika Weekes.
“The girls had an excellent time and really hit their performance, the best they have ever done it. It was a great day and a great experience overall,” RBHS varsity coach Tia Sherman said.