Cheerful winners eclipse competition
Winners . . . Eclipse Cheerleading members celebrating a win at nationals are, left group: Jessica Clark (9) is held up by Becca More (13, left), and Eva Berry (14); centre front: Indi FairleySmith (8) is held up by (from left) Violet O'Sullivan (7), Jamine Smith (15) and Abigail Roach (8); centre rear: Brooke Davis (15) is held up by Rata Williams (14, left) and Arizona McFarlane (18); right group: Ava Haines (9) is held up by (from left) Kennedy Corbett (11), Cheyanne Lewis (17) and Evangeline Clarke (9).
TWO Dunedin cheerleading teams have even more to cheer about after winning top places in a national competition last weekend.
Eclipse Cheerleading’s teams Stardust and Aurora were firsttime competitors in their divisions for Cheer Factor in Auckland last Saturday, but that did not hold them back from succeeding.
Director Graham Versfeld said Stardust team members, who are aged 711, placed first in the Youth Novice Level 1 division, and Aurora team members, aged 1318, came second in the Senior Level 1 division.
The teams had been working on their routines all year and perfected them after performing at the South Island Showoffs in Nelson, in September.
‘‘After this event we upgraded our routines to what they were on Saturday.’’
What they were, were winning performances.
‘‘We are so proud of all our teams for their incredible performance at competition,’’ he said.
‘‘There were some really highcalibre routines and they all did amazingly, especially as it was a firsttime experience for our athletes.’’
Two University of Otago cheer teams, which are also coached by Eclipse, placed first in Varsity Level 3 to 4 and second in Varsity Level 1 to 2.
It was their first competition, too.
The teams celebrated their win with a Rainbow’s End theme park visit on Sunday.