For the second year in a row, the Newtown High School cheerleading squad competed at the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships at the Indiana Jones Theatre at MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida.

The Lady Nighthawks are familiar with the UCA (United Cheerleading Association) as they attend a UCA camp every summer at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven to prepare for the upcoming season.

Last summer, all six Newtown seniors were named UCA All Stars and it seemed as if the locals would be primed for a breakout performance in Orlando.

“Last year all of the girls were very nervous to competing in a national competition,” said co-coach Heather Cameron, “so they had one of their worst performances ever. This year the squad was mentally and physically prepared for the competition and bumped up 19 places from last year and missed making it to the next round by only six teams. It was a great accomplishment.”

The Lady Nighthawks competed in the Large Varsity division, which meant there could be as many as 20 cheerleaders on the mat.

The nationals have become popular and many teams from the northeast have made it part of their winter schedule. New York schools like New Rochelle and Ursuline (also in New Rochelle) have been attending UCA nationals for a few years and earned themselves spots at finals. This year, Masuk High School of Monroe made its nationals debut, albeit with a disappointing performance.

The top performance from a Connecticut team came from Holy Cross of Waterbury, which landed in seventh place after never making it to finals before and Danbury High School went into the semi-finals of the Medium Varsity division.

“We’re very happy with the way things turned out,” said coach Cameron. “The judges judged very fairly and allowed teams like Holy Cross, who had a true “seventh-place performance,” to earn seventh place.”

Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School of Kentucky won the Large Varsity division title with an “unbelievable performance,” said coach Cameron.

The coaches are already excited about the coming school year.

“Newtown is becoming more and more experienced every year we go down to nationals and our performance looks like we belong out there,” said coach Cameron. “We’re graduating six seniors this year, but we will be holding tryouts at the end of March for next year’s squad.”

The current team –

Freshmen – Victoria Summerlin, Stephanie Mitchell, Maura McDade, Meghan Dolyak, Belle Hydock, Genna Rossi and Kaila Harrington. Sophomores – Jenna Fahey and Alyssa DeSimone. Juniors – Nikki Beatty, Jess Shepard, Alyssa Stendahl, Jess Dugan, Leah Fahey, Lauren Nute, Vanessa Hansen, Christina Bell and Courtney Sullivan. Seniors – Kate Levasseur (C), Noreen Barrett (C), Bria Innuarato, Lauren Egdahl, Melissa Shepard and Christina Matsis. Coaches – Heather Cameron and Stacy D’Amico.