Ludlowe wins FCIAC cheerleading; GHS coach pleased with effort

WILTON -- For the third time in three years, the FCIAC cheerleading championship will be staying within the borders of Fairfield.

This time, it'll have to make the trip across town.

Fairfield Ludlowe won the 2012 FCIAC championship with 156 points, easily surpassing second-place St. Joseph (145.5) with a near flawless routine packed with difficulty Saturday at the Wilton High School Fieldhouse.

Ludlowe also won the title in 2010 but was motivated to get the trophy back after seeing cross-town rival Fairfield Warde capture the crown last year.

"Warde was awesome last year and that motivated us to step up and be better this year," said Ludlowe head coach Ashley Carolan, whose team placed third last season. "This is one of the biggest competitions we'll compete in all season, so winning it means a lot more than some people think."

Warde placed third overall with 134.5 points and was followed by Greenwich (132.5) and Staples (130 points).

"There was great competition this year, so I'm very pleased that we came in fourth" GHS coach Maryanne Catal This is our second competition, so hopefully we can do better moving forward. We're competing in Spirit Fest in Hartford on March 2nd and states on March 10 in New Haven and we're really looking forward to those competitions."

Ludlowe designed its routine around the state scoring sheet, making sure the level of difficulty was as high as it gets. The Falcons showed off their skill in the first few seconds with every single member of the squad performing a standing back flip to open the routine.

"I thought the girls did an awesome job with the routine," Carolan said. "I couldn't be happier right now."

Westhill came in as an underdog after finishing 11th last season. But the Vikings pulled off a flawless routine, sticking all elements in the stunts and left Wilton feeling totally satisfied with their performance.

Final scores for teams other than top five will be revealed at a later time.

"I'm so ecstatic," senior captain Nicole Carrillo said. "We left it all on the mat. Our goal was to come in here and do a clean routine and I think we did that."

Stamford took the floor trying to battle through a number of injuries to key members of the team. A valiant effort still left the Black Knights a few points behind McMahon.

Stamford was also hurt by injuries last season, losing its only male member to a medical emergency before the meet, snapping a six-year run as FCIAC co-ed champs.

"They didn't do as well as they would have liked, but I still think they did a great job," said Stamford head coach Tiffany Clark, who was named FCIAC Coach of the Year. "I thought we did a good job overall. We dropped a few stunts, but we have a couple of girls with injuries. They tried to work through it, but sometimes it just doesn't work out."

Trinity Catholic also had a strong showing with a squad comprised of 12 seniors.

"I thought we did really well," said senior Maya Ferguson, who was named All-FCIAC in her first season as a cheerleader. "We got a 9.5 on our dance at the last competition so we wanted to get a 10. We just have to do some cleaning up on our stunts and we'll be ready for the states."

Also being named to the All-FCIAC team were Shannon Gale and Nyasha Watkin of Stamford.

Norwalk won the Spirit Award while Bridgeport Central took home the co-ed Spirit Award.

Matthew Doran is a freelance write from Fairfield County