The members of the North Smithfield High cheerleading squad are, in front from left, Zoey Garnett, captain Annie Paiva, and Madison Costello; in middle row, Kaitlyn Farmer, Kiyanna Wolowicz, Makenzy Davis, Julia Almeida, Olivia Morin, Catherine McNeill, and Madelyn Daigneault; in back, coach Alicia Heon, Aline Girard, Madison McGourty, Trista Harris, Dylan Vowels, Hunter Kennell, Madison Sherrill, and coach Valerie Orellana.
The members of the North Smithfield High cheerleading squad are, in front from left, Zoey Garnett, captain Annie Paiva, and Madison Costello; in middle row, Kaitlyn Farmer, Kiyanna Wolowicz, Makenzy Davis, Julia Almeida, Olivia Morin, Catherine McNeill, and Madelyn Daigneault; in back, coach Alicia Heon, Aline Girard, Madison McGourty, Trista Harris, Dylan Vowels, Hunter Kennell, Madison Sherrill, and coach Valerie Orellana.
NORTH SMITHFIELD – One of the youngest squads in the North Smithfield High cheerleading squad’s history delivered a season to remember.
The Northmen repeated as the RIIL’s Division IV champions – and claimed their fourth title in the last five seasons – on March 9 at the Providence Career & Technical Academy field house, and prior to that, they also won the RICCA (R.I. Cheerleading Coaches Association) D-IV title for the second year in a row.
They also placed in all eight invitationals they attended and won their first three during an eight-day span in early February, the Ram Rumble and the Ponaganset and Burrillville competitions.
And they wrapped up their season with an exclamation point two weekends ago at the 16th annual New England Interscholastic Spirit Championships at Worcester State University by taking sixth place for the second straight year.
“This year’s team is incredibly talented and was hyper-focused on achieving our goal, winning another title,” said N.S. head coach Alicia Heon. “They are some of the most hardest-working athletes, as well as the most dedicated. Most of these girls attend extra classes to clean up tumbling skills outside their regular practice schedule.”
And here’s the scary thing about this squad: N.S. is only losing senior captain Annie Paiva to graduation, “and we are gaining twelve 8th-graders,” said Heon. “The North Smithfield Middle School team also captured their first Small Division state championship at RICCA. The future is incredibly bright for Northmen cheer.”
After exiting La Salle Academy with their RICCA championship, which also saw them take fifth place among all the teams in the five divisions, the Northmen raised their excellence to repeat as RIIL champions.
Both the Northmen and Achievement First of Providence, which Heon called “an outstanding team that pushed us to be great week after week,” ended the meet with scores of 80, but because North Smithfield had a fundamental score of 34.7 that was higher than Achievement First’s 33, the Northmen were awarded first place.
At the New England meet, the Northmen scored 161.2 points, which was 11.3 more than they did in last year’s event. Not far in front of them in the standings were Narragansett, which took fourth place with 165.3 points, and Achievement First, which finished fifth with 163.5.
“This was our second time making it to the New England regionals,” said Heon. “It’s always so fun being able to see all the talented teams from across New England, and it always inspires the girls to work over the offseason to come back stronger to continue our success.
Two cheerleaders landed First-Team All-Division honors: sophomore Julia Almeida and Trista Harris. Almeida also received First-Team All-State honors, while Harris was a Second-Team pick.
Two more sophomores, Makenzy Davis and Catherine McNeill, were also Second-Team All-Division selections, and Paiva and juniors Kaitlyn Farmer, Hunter Kennell, and Madison Costello earned All-Academic recognition.
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