Padua’s cheerleading team does not only cheer for football and basketball games, but during the winter sports season, the team also competes. The main goal for the cheerleading team this year is to win states for the first time ever, and bring Padua it’s first champion title for the cheerleading team.

The cheerleading team was started in 2011. Their first time competing at States was last year placing second. Now ready for a new season, the cheerleading team is training hard to hopefully claim the spot as number one in Delaware. The cheerleading team is coached by Maria Catalina, Stacy Eby, and Alexis Walsh. The team’s current captains are Padua seniors, Carmella Cinaglia, Em Erdmann, and Kaitlyn Markey.

On February 1, 2014, the Padua cheerleading team won first place for the first time. The competition was at Christiana High School. This was the team’s first competition this year, so it was a great victory for them. The competition started at 1:00. Many of the younger teams were nervous, but they tried their hardest and did their best. It was the team’s first competition out of the five they will be competing in this year.

Junior, Brooke Fertig, said “After endless hours of hard dedication to long practices, winning first definitely made it all worth it. I love my team and that was the best start for our competition season.”

The team also competed at a competition in Dover, Delaware, on February 9, 2014. They competed against Lake Forest High School and Saint Mark’s High School. The team placed first place, celebrating their second victory so far this season.