Tolman, St. Raphael return home with state hardware
Tigers claim Medium Div. title at PCTA
PAWTUCKET — The clock hanging from the wall at the Providence Career & Technical Academy field house had just ticked to 3:45 p.m. on Saturday when the verdict came down, and Tolman High head coach Kelly Ogden and her assistant and mom Carole – in a word – flipped.
The announcer had just indicated their Tigers’ squad had earned the R.I. Medium Division Competitive Cheer meet championship with 167.75 points, out dueling runner-up Portsmouth by an apparently significant amount, and nobody was more thrilled than the younger Ogden.
“We were standing toward the back of the gym, and we were holding hands, awaiting the decision,” the younger Ogden recalled. “When we discovered we won, I hugged Mom, and we just broke into tears, then we ran over to the girls and hugged them. Everyone was crying, they were so happy. It was so emotional because of all that we went through this year.”
The moment marked the first time since 2012 that Tolman had reigned in this competition. Not so surprisingly, Kelly – a 2014 THS grad – had represented the Tigers on that championship squad, not to mention the one that won it all in 2011.
Her girls had spent a full two-and-ahalf minutes performing to music before the judges. The Tolman routine consisted first of the prerequisite, 30-second school cheer, then both standing and running tumbling, partner stunts, pyramids and, finally, a lengthy dance routine.
“The kids did an excellent job; we have it all on video, and everyone was in tears,” Kelly said. “We had gone through such a long drought, and – like I said – it’s been a difficult year. In the beginning, we didn’t have as many girls as usual sign up.
“When we first started, we weren’t 100 percent, that’s for sure,” she continued. “The girls were very talented, but they also needed coaching. We had a lot of things we needed to clean up, but the difference between the first couple of meets and the state meet were night and day.
“We had two or three girls out with sprained ankles for parts of the season, one girl suffered a broken finger and another was really sick, so it took a lot of practice and dedication. We had team talks almost every day after practice to try to motivate them, feel good about what they had accomplished on a certain day.
“The girls worked so hard for this, and they’re so deserving after their performance (at the state championships). We were judged on how good the initial cheer was, and how well we did all the stunting, tumbling, jumps, pyramids and dancing. (The judges) based the scores on how synchronized we were, how polished the routine was, and we scored 167.75 points out of a 200 total.”
Because of that stellar outing, the Tigers snared a berth in the New England Interscholastic Spirit Championships, slated for 10:30 a.m., Saturday at the same PCTA site.
How Kelly earned the head coaching position is just as interesting a story. After graduation, she entered the Community College of Rhode Island-Providence to further her education, but decided to spend her free time helping then THS cheerleading team mentor Jessica McLaughlin with her current crop of girls.
“I volunteered right after I graduated, and worked a lot with the girls on routines,” noted Kelly, now a 20-year-old junior at CCRI. “One day during the 2016 season, Jess came to me; she told me she felt I was a good person to take over the program. She said she had got a job and couldn’t coach anymore, and I was stunned.
“She taught me everything I know about cheerleading, and she was an amazing coach and mentor to me, so I was honored,” she added. “I was proud to have the chance to replace her. I had been the head coach of the football cheerleaders, and more than half of the girls were on both the football and competition teams.
“I love it so much. It’s something I’ve never experienced before, leading a team. You form a bond with these girls, and it blows your mind. You don’t realize what you’re getting yourself into because so many things come up on a daily basis.
“You get so close to the girls with all the time you spend with them; I felt like a sister, mom, friend, nurse, doctor and counselor to all of them, but I really and truly enjoyed it.”
Kelly admitted she reveled in the fact that, as a senior during the 2013-14 school year, her team failed to snare the state title but did reign at the New England meet held in Lawrence, Mass. When asked what meant more to her, representing Tolman as a student-athlete or head coach, she hesitated.
“I adored cheering when I was in high school, but I have to say coaching is more satisfying because I witnessed how much these girls improved. It was a tremendous season, but we’re not done yet.”
The Tigers’ squad includes junior cocaptains Cheyenne Bergeron and Sophie Marchese, as well as classmates Haley Betters, Annai McLeanFontes, Elizabeth Gray, Angel Moore and Krista Plourde; sophomores Janessa Avila, Taylor Durand, Jenna Fernandes, Stephanie Harwood, Brianna Roberts, Haley DeJesusSnead and Arianna Tager; and freshmen Autumn Grinnell, Sophia Lemoie and Nicole Simoneau.