The Honeoye Falls-Lima Varsity Cheerleading team displays the Section V Class B trophy it won this fall. Turn to page 6 for an article on the squad’s season. Photo courtesy of Section V
With eight members back from the winter team that took second at the Section V championships last April, the Honeoye Falls-Lima Varsity Cheerleading team had the experience to make a run at a title this fall and the girls completed their quest.
Coach Ashley Wood welcomed back juniors Alexa Fanghanel, Anna Kurtz, Erika Lein and Ivy Yates and sophomores Cailin Allen, Caiden Benson, Bernadette Whelen and Madeleine Wood. Joining them were sophomores Claire Adcock, Kaylee White and Dalyn Wilson and freshman Ellen Burke.
HF-L had three competitions this year prior to the Section V Tournament.
The Cougars captured first place at their first competition of the season, the Hilton Competition on October 13, winning their division over teams such as Batavia and Midlakes. Three days later, HF-L won its division again at the Brockport Competition on October 16. This time, their division included schools such as East Rochester and Palmyra-Macedon. The last competition was the Avon Invitational on October 23, where the girls earned first place again to end the regular season competition undefeated.
“At each one of those competitions, the divisions were based on team size,” Wood said. “So, it varied from competition to competition who was in our division. Due to COVID, there were sometimes last minute changes to the teams in each division. However, the competitions were more normal this year. Last March and April, competing was described as hit and run because we would wait on the bus, then go to a holding room, then perform, then immediately leave the site of competition. This fall, the competitions were more like normal because we got to watch the other teams.”
HF-L won the program’s fifth sectional title by taking first place at the Section V Class B Tournament on October 30 at Rochester Institute of Technology with 81.45 points. Its previous titles were in 1997, 2005, 2015 and 2020.
“Going to the sectional tournament at RIT was incredible,” Wood said. “We had not stepped inside RIT since the state tournament in March 2020 so it felt and sounded like a championship tournament and being able to see other teams compete. We were confident even though we have a young team. We dealt with some injuries, but the girls persevered and came together. We knew Pal-Mac would be a good team and we won the sectional title by one point. The girls did a phenomenal job.”
With no seniors on the team, Wood is looking forward to a bright future with this group, all of whom should be on this year’s winter cheerleading team.
