championship in the co-ed division.
(Photo by Island Trees School District)
The Generals are making some noise. Lots of noise, actually. It’s not just a cheer on the sidelines of a General Douglas MacArthur High School football game, either.
Arriving at Hofstra University on Feb. 24 for the Nassau County cheerleading championship, the Generals did something no group at the school has done before. They managed to nail down the choreography to take home the Division I small school championship.
“We’re still on cloud nine,” head coach Jacqueline Day said.
En route to the triumph, MacArthur defeated the 2017-18 champions, Freeport High School. The margin of victory? A slim .525 points.
(Photo by Levittown Public Schools)
The Generals moved onto the state title battle on March 2. Heading up north to Rochester, they continued to make noise. But MacArthur wasn’t the only local school to capture a title in the county battle of pom poms.
Island Trees High School’s cheerleading squad earned a championship victory as well. The Bulldogs won the co-ed division, marking the first county title for that group as well.
“This season has been an incredible one all throughout, and winning the county championship for the first time was just the best way to wrap this all up,” Courtney Waller, coach of the Island Trees team, said. “It’s all thanks to the hard work and dedication these kids have showed to the team and to the sport of cheerleading.”
But the victory for the Bulldogs didn’t come easy. Feeling uneasy with how they were practicing, the group made some last-minute changes that proved to be exactly what they needed. With a handful of minor swaps, the Island Trees team capped off their performance with a title win. They also made it to states. Both squads finished 10th in their respective divisions.
