By Randy Whalen
It's going to be quite a busy home stretch for the Joliet West competitive cheer team.
The Tigers wouldn't want it any other way.
Joliet West is packing a slew of competitions in the final couple of weeks of the regular season and that's the time to peak.
"We have four competitions in eight days and then the sectional," Joliet West senior Payton Kokalj said. "I feel that's better. I feel like early in the season, things are still watered down. Later in the season, more skills have been worked on, and more competition."
Kokalj is one of six seniors on the squad. The others are Caiden Koerner, Denise Lima, Delilah Lima, Natalie Rasmussen, and Ava Tuider. The juniors are Mia Agnich, Mya Campbell, Maryah Durand, and Layoni Pierce. There are five sophomores: Mia Barborek, Mariah Campbell, Paige Fier, Payton Sing, and Maxin Simpson, and a trio of freshmen: Norah Buchanan, Madison Pork, and Shayna Prinner,
Also, Kokalj, Rasmussen, and Tuider have all been on the varsity team for four years. So they know that this season's schedule is a little different.
"Yes, this is a little different in that we usually don't have a weekend off until the end of the season," Rasmussen said. "Now we've been off for the last three weeks. We've got to go out and show it at the end of the season."
The Tigers started the competitive season on Saturday, December 14, at the Lincoln-Way Central Invite and placed fourth in the Large School Division. The next weekend brought the most special competition of the season: the Joliet West Cheerfest, which had 57 teams perform and was held on Sunday, December 22 in the fieldhouse.
Since they hosted it, the Tigers couldn't officially place in it. But they got to perform in front of their home fans.
"Our invite was a lot of fun," Tuider said. "A lot of family and friends came out to see us. This year was especially fun because we got to debut our new uniforms for it."
Joliet West coach Raven Moore and assistant coach, Tracy Cameron, enjoy hosting the huge invite.
"We have a bunch of competitions in different categories and I love it," she said. "It's amazing to have something like that here. It's run very well and smoothly and we have a great staff to run something like that."
While half of the seniors have been on the varsity every year, this is the first season for Delilah Lima.
"I feel like the difference is my teammates," Delilah Lima said of being on the varsity this season. "They want to push themselves more and that rubs off on me."
While the Co-Ed Division of the competitive cheer has become bigger, it's still more of a female sport. A team can have one guy on it and still be classified as in the Small, Medium, or Large Division. Koerner is a lone guy on the Tiger team.
"I've been on since I was a junior," Koerner said. "I did tumbling before this but I had been out of it for two years going out for cheer. I just said, 'screw it' and went out for it. I'm the base guy for the group stunts.
"I feel like a lot of eyes are on me but I enjoy the attention. I'm glad I went out, I love it."
Joliet West advanced to state in the Large School Division in 2022 (14th) and 2023 (23rd) before just missing it last year.
"It would be very important for us to get to state," said Denise Lima, who has been on the varsity for two seasons. "That would show how much work we've put in and that we're for real."
The competitive season will wind down starting this Saturday, January 18 at 8 AM at the Lockport Township High School Porter Frost Invitational. The next day the Tigers will travel to the Niles West High School Niles West Invitational, which starts at 9 AM.
On Saturday, January 25, Joliet West will be at the Southwest Prairie Conference Meet, which will start at 9 AM and be hosted by Plainfield North. The next day brings another competition, which is the Huntley Cheer Sweetheart Invite which starts at 8 AM.
The Illinois High School Association State Tournament follows. At the Hinsdale South Sectional last season, the Tigers finished seventh and missed out on going to state by .59 of a point. This season, they won't have to travel far for the sectional. They will host their own on Saturday, February 1, as they will be in the Large School Division at 10:12 AM.
There are 16 teams in that division and the Top 5 teams advance to state. The awards will be approximately an hour after the Joliet West performance.
The State Finals are on Friday, February 7, and Saturday, February 8 at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.
Moore is a 2012 Joliet West graduate and was on the varsity cheer team all four of her seasons. She was the JV coach in 2018 when the Tigers won their second Large School State Championship in three years. They also took second in 2017.
"It goes deeper than coaching," Moore said of being at Joliet West. "The staff, the support, everything here is just so great. We have a bond here that is deep."
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