Cape cheerleaders throw and catch each other

The Cape football team will open the season Friday night, Sept. 10, at Indian River, and the 17-member Cape cheerleading squad will be on the sidelines early waiting for the fans to arrive. The squad has been unrelentingly positive through nine consecutive dismal campaigns. They are fit and strong, a high-performance troupe that practices all summer.

“Players throw a football and you drop it; no big deal, just an incomplete pass. We throw people, and if we drop one, it is a big deal,” said senior tri-captain Danielle Diener laughingly, but the point was made.

Deiner rhymes with shiner as Danielle points to her eye, blackened this summer when a shoulder caught her cheekbone on a catch after a pyramid dismantling.

“We are not considered a sport, and yet we have to get physicals, and academically you have to have a B average to be on the team,” said tri-captain Noelle Houston. “We combine athletics and performance; it’s just like a theater show. It all takes endurance, flexibility and technique.”

Danielle Christensen, also a tri-captain, said she has been cheering since seventh grade.

“Our coaches are great; they explain things, work with us and get us to believe and trust in one another,” Christensen said. “We all love Miss Kate [Lingo] and all of our coaches.”

Members of this year’s cheerleading squad are senior captains Diener, Christensen and Houston; juniors Nicole Bishoff, Heather Cross and Elize Matalavage; sophomores Taylor Capazzoli, Laytoya Conquest, Taylor Fisher, Lexie Maull, Maddy Steiner and Hollie Wartman; and freshmen Heather Hazewski, Allie Herd, Jess Norwood, Liz Sparks and Kathleen Wright.

Molly Lingo is a volunteer coach recently hired by Cape as a third-grade teacher. “We started this season a little later than normal, in late June,” Lingo said. “We practiced every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6 to 8 throughout the summer. Also, we added an additional option, tumbling class, Thursday from 5 to 6. The tumbling class has been a huge success, and we have two girls that have mastered the round-off back handsprings. We attended a private summer camp held by the National Cheerleaders Association [NCA].

“We were fortunate enough to have two instructors from nationals come and teach their summer curriculum. At summer camp, we had three girls make NCA’s All-American team: Danielle Diener, Lexie Maull, and Liz Sparks. In addition to having three girls make the All-American team, we received a bid to complete at NCA’s National Championship in Dallas, Texas. Even though we had a late start, it turned out to be a great season. We learned some great new material, stunts and tumbling. Watch out for flying footballs on the sidelines.”