To think, Meade coach Tierra Snowden almost didn’t let her cheerleaders include the slow-motion bit. She “hated it.”
After placing second behind Glen Burnie — again — at the Class 4A regionals, the Mustangs pitched their idea to their coach. What if they were to slow and exaggerate part of their tumbling, to make it seem like they’d all been placed in 0.5x speed?
It was a total risk to change their routine so close to states. They knew it was the jumps they needed to fix, and maybe that would give them the edge they needed to defeat the Gophers at last. They didn’t need to add anything.
“It was risky,” junior Mala’khy Campbell said, “but we were willing to risk it all for the last performance.”
The Mustangs held their breath as the officials announced second place in the 4A winter state finals at APGFCU Arena in Bel Air. With the words “Glen Burnie,” the black-and-purple-clad cheerleaders turned to look at one another, laughing, their mouths agape. Some began to sob. The Northeast cheerleaders, who had just learned they claimed their first title in 20 years for Class 3A, turned around to waggle their fingers in prayer to Meade.
With 117.5 points, the Meade cheerleaders — no longer anyone’s second place — screamed.
When the Mustangs claimed their first county championship last fall, Snowden wept. Tears threatened her again when she heard her team’s name called for its first state title in program history, but they were wiped away by a wide, triumphant smile.
“We were doing this for us. For Meade,” Snowden said. “We went out there and represented our school and that was our goal.”
Jumps had been Meade’s hitch, but by Tuesday, it was their strength. Their limbs cut the air in flawless unison, not a twitch out of place. Then, Campbell took to the air, backflipping and twisting to raucous applause. The goal was to entertain, Snowden explained, and Campbell “set the tone.”
They knew Glen Burnie’s jumps were good, too, and had heard their three stunt teams impressed.
In truth, the Gophers (115.9) did look almost flawless. Their seniors carried an intensity into the arena and still kept it even when their performance was over. They were the winningest program in Glen Burnie history, eyeing their sixth state title to add to their eight straight region crowns and three county championships. Before they’d stepped foot in Glen Burnie’s halls in 2021, their cheer team had never won.
They were once Meade.
“I was scared. We were always second place to them, except the one counties,” Campbell said. “But I knew that I trusted my team, and they trusted me.”
Northeast didn’t worry.
The Eagles knew from the moment they landed every stunt, every tumble, that they had won. Though they’d performed early in the night, senior Aleigha Dubroc said, they knew they’d hit harder than anyone.
“When we came off the mat, we knew. We set the bar,” the captain said.
It’s not just closing a two-decade gap with gold that sent tear-filled screams through Northeast when they heard second-place Linganore announced. One year ago, a judge’s apparent mistake on a scoring sheet blocked the Eagles from advancing past their regionals. Had the score been correct, the team explained then, they would have moved on. Chesapeake, who placed third on Tuesday (112.8 points), wore Northeast bands in solidarity before capturing the 3A title.
Going into this year’s regionals, Eagles coach Katie Wargo felt emotion overcome her. The memories of what happened to them stung still, but they overcame it and advanced. Over the next week-and-a-half, they poured themselves into their work.
“We’d been lacking confidence all year,” senior captain Madison Lemay said. “Finally, it paid off.”
Now, as the Eagles twirled around, embracing each other as much as an official handed them their trophy and their 115.5 score, nothing could stop them.
Wargo promised her freshmen that she’d get them a state title before they graduated. A lot, she agreed, was riding on this, being their last chance.
“It feels like redemption — that’s what this whole season was about,” Wargo said. “These eight seniors were my rookie season, and they were the best of the best, from tumbling to stunting.”
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