York County, SC | Northwestern coach, Clover student lead Herald's ...

There's more to cheerleading than pumping up the fans and creating spirit from the sidelines.

Cheerleading has evolved and is recognized as a sport by the South Carolina High School League. The move allowed teams to show their best in the fall at sanctioned competitive meets and compete for state championships.

Northwestern's Koren McManus is the dean of the area and has been the cheer coach there for 10 seasons. She has long asked that the girls be recognized, the same as the other area sports teams.

McManus, a former Carolina Panthers Top Cat, was charged with contacting local coaches and asking they nominate their top two for the team. After all, cheerleading competition is subjective, and who knows better which girls performed best than their coaches?

Because of her effort, not only is this The Herald's first All-Area Competitive Cheer Team. It's also her honor to be named the best on the first-ever team.

McManus, the 2010 SCACA Cheer Coach of the Year, was voted The Herald's All-Area Competitive Cheer Coach of the Year by her peers.

The coaches chose Clover's Erika Varalli as The Herald's All-Area Competitive Cheerleader of the Year. She has been on Clover's varsity squad all four years of high school.

McManus has long been an advocate of cheerleaders being more recognized during her 10 years leading Northwestern. She is a former assistant athletic director at Northwestern. Her dedication to cheerleading made for easy pickings when the other cheer coaches voted.

"Cheerleading has become big across the state,'' she said. "And we are trying to make it more like a sport; trying to get away from it being based as much on subjective judging.

"People who don't know about cheerleading don't know how hard the girls work and what the go through to prepare for a competition. It's also a rough sport. We've had girls tear their ACLs, and bone breaks are common. It's a lot more physical than the casual fan realizes.''

Varalli has participated in cheerleading for 14 years including: Clover Co-Op League, Charlotte Extreme All Star Squad, and Clover Schools. She was named a Region 3-AAAA All-Region cheerleader.

Her specialty is tumbling stunts. Varalli will attend York Technical College for two years and get her basic classes, then transfer to Clemson.

"I love everything about cheerleading and when you think about all of the good ones at our schools, it's exciting to be chosen the first to make all-area,'' she said. "Competitive cheerleading has pressure. If you do some little thing that is just not right or get off your timing, your team loses points and it messes everybody up.

"We can have as many as 24 on the mat during a competition, and we have to depend on each other. It takes a lot of practice and time to get a routine right. But it's part of what you have to do.''

2011 HERALD ALL-AREA CHEERLEADING TEAM

CLOVER

Erika Varalli

Varalli was named a 2010 Region 3-AAAA All-Region cheerleader, received academic awards her freshman and senior years, and won the "Blue Eagle Cheer Award". She will attend York Tech for two years and transfer to Clemson to major in Education. She hopes to cheer for the Clemson Tigers.

Tiffany Deal

Deal is a four-year varsity cheerleader and has participated in cheerleading 12 years including: Clover Co-Op League, Champions All Star Squad, and Clover Schools. Deal is a member of the Clover Student Council, French Club, National Honor Society and Project Unify. She will attend Presbyterian College and cheer on the Blue Hose squad.

FORT MILL

Taylor Santana

Santana moved to Fort Mill from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., five years ago. She began her cheerleading career at the age of 8. For the past three years she has been a flyer for Fort Mill's squad, and served as co-captain her sophomore year. Santana was recently recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program as a nationally ranked Hispanic Scholar. She maintains a 4.4 GPA.

Haley Adams

Adams was born in Scottsdale, Ariz. She began taking gymnastics lessons at the age of 5 and competed locally until she was 11. As a freshman Adams cheered for JV. She has been cheering for the varsity since the 10th grade. She is recognized as a solid leader and inspires the rest of her teammates to achieve their best.

Source: http://www.heraldonline.com/2011/07/04/3194425/cheerleading-joins-all-area-rosters.html

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