New faces are continuing to emerge around the Oxford Varsity Competitive Cheer program.
Last year’s new face was Head Coach Shari Russell, whose guidance led the team to a sixth place finish in the Flint Metro League last year.
This year, she stares into the faces of 24 girls, an increase of nine from last year’s squad, who are ready to make their mark in the Wildcat’s final year of the FML competition. Among the 24 faces, eight of them are freshman and nine are sophomores.
Altogether, 14 new faces were added to this year’s squad, mostly from JV team while others were incoming freshman or from another sport said Russell.
‘We’re very excited about these additions as many of them have added tumbling skills to our team,? she added.
Even with such a young team, Russell is excited for the upcoming season. ‘We are very excited for this season…we have been steadily progressing in our tumbling skills, stunting and overall showmanship and will continue to work on these this season,? she said.
Russell can count on the motivational help from senior captains Molly Bonfiglio and Brittney Resk. ‘They have a drive to win and have been pushing themselves and the team to find extra time to condition and practice so that we can continue to get strong and compete at a higher level.?
She also noted that Bonfillio and Resk were great leaders in their ability to motivate and represent the team in academics, personal life and in sports.
One of the strengths that Russell noted was its stunting and tumbling.
‘The girls love these parts of cheerleading and work really hard to get new skills and stunts. Once they achieve a new skill or stunt, they are able to do it consistently and with good technique.?
Russell sees the showmanship aspect of the team as an early weakness, but contributes it to the fact that the team is young and still inexperienced.
‘You can tell with the junior and senior athletes who have been to more competitions and know what it takes to win. Sometimes the younger athletes are more timid and don’t get as excited as they need to in order to get the crowd involved,? she said.
Russell increased the practice time not only to work on the team’s ‘wow factor,? but to work on some of the new elements she is introducing into the routine this year. They include more advanced one-leg extension stunts, double twist cradles and full twisting layouts.
She expects tough competition in the FML this year, especially since Linden, Clio, Lapeer East and Oxford were only separated by 25 points in last year’s final standings.
Some of the goals that she would like to accomplish this year would be to finish in the top three in the FML and break 700 for an overall score consistently throughout the competitions. ‘It’s going to be tough, but with a little determination it’s possible,? she said.