RC Again Loses Key Contributor To Injury
The Rockbridge County High School competition cheerleading team concluded a strong season by placing sixth of 10 teams at the Region 3C competition on Saturday afternoon at Wilson Memorial High School in Fishersville.
The Wildcats, who had placed second of seven teams in the Shenandoah District competition 10 days earlier at RC, scored 145.5 points at the Region 3C competition. As happened at the district competition, the Wildcats lost a cheerleader to injury during warmups when sophomore Chloe Zollman dislocated her elbow.
Due to the injury, the Wildcats ended up competing with 12 athletes instead of their usual 13, and they had only one bracer instead of two bracers in the final pyramid because they didn’t have anybody to substitute in.
Reviewing the series of events and how her cheerleaders responded, RC head coach Shannon Bryan said, “Our season might have come to an end today, but I am so incredibly proud of this team. Two weeks in a row now, we have had a major injury during warmups, resulting in having to rework things and putting people in new spots. But let me tell you, this team right here didn’t skip a beat on any of it.”
Bryan, in her seventh year as the Wildcats’ head coach, said that, while she was tending to the injury, her cheerleaders were already running through what they were going to fix to make things work.
“When I was able to get back to them, they already had everything planned out,” said Bryan. “I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls. They showed how strong they are today both physically and mentally. They weren’t going down without a fight, and they gave it just that.”
Harrisonburg won with 247 points, while Brookville placed second with 231.25. Broadway (222.75) finished third, East Rockingham (188.25) came in fourth, and Heritage (148.5) placed fifth. Completing the standings were RC, Waynesboro (126.5), Fluvanna County (123.75), Monticello (110.25) and Staunton (104.75).
The top five teams advanced to the second round of the regional competition, and the top two teams advanced to the Class 3 state competition, which will take place on Saturday, Nov. 8 at the Siegel Center at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Seeing that the Wildcats finished just one place short of advancing to the second round, Bryan said, “We were so close to pulling out another miracle.”
Four Wildcats earned allregion honors. Seniors Lillian Ballard and Riley McDaniel were named to the all-region first team, while seniors Emma Mines and Willow Rogers were selected to the all-region second team. In addition to the all-region seniors, the Wildcats will graduate senior Gabby Brown, an alldistrict first-team selection who was injured during warmups for the district competition.
In addition to Zollman and the seniors, other RC cheerleaders this year were juniors Makenna Brinkley, Maria Calomeris and Celia Jones; sophomores Sofia Gaydos, Emmalee Grimm, Ariana Mitchell and Natash Shorter; and freshman Alaina Early and Josellyn Fitz. Helping Bryan guide the Wildcats was assistant coach Sarah Parnell.
This season, the Wildcats were trying to build on the success of last year’s team, which won the program’s first-ever regional title and placed eighth in Class 3 state competition, the Wildcats’ first state competition appearance in 25 years. From last year’s team, the Wildcats graduated seven seniors, including four all-state cheerleaders.
Looking back at the season with gratitude, Bryan said, “These girls built so many relationships this season and truly became a family. I’m so thankful for each of them.”
