BA History 101

BA HISTORY 101: ’94 Cheerleading

Alexis Gerwert, Staff Writer|November 1, 2017

Bellwood-Antis cheerleaders were primed for competition 23 years ago in 1994.

“B-E, double L, W-O, O-D, B-E-double L-W-O-O-D!”

This is just one of the many cheers that the cheerleaders of 1994 would perform in competition. Taking a look back to November 10, 1994, The Hylite, the precursor of the Blueprint, reported that our Bellwood-Antis varsity cheerleading squad had been working diligently preparing for its first competition of the school year.

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Our Bellwood-Antis varsity cheerleading squad had been working diligently preparing for its first competition of the school year.

The competition squad consisted of seven juniors and six sophomores: Michelle Sisto, Deanna Davinsizer, Faith Novak (mascot), Chrissy Houser, Rachele Dell, Krista Davinsizer, Elen Parks, Crystal Barth, Ashleigh Thornhill, Misty Schmidt, Tara Guyer, Katie Secor, Erica Smith, and Kaycee Tatsch. Their advisors were Melody Endress and Ginger Replane, both former cheerleaders. The competition team practiced its routines two and a half hours per night, several nights a week.

Their first competition was Tuesday, November 8 in the Altoona Area High School Fieldhouse. It was the largest competition that had ever been held there at the time. During the competition, the Bellwood-Antis fans had their own seating section. The cheerleaders encouraged the crowd to participate, but, fans were only able to yell when the cheerleaders held up signs or invited fans to participate. If the fans were to yell at any other time in the competition, points were deducted from Bellwood’s score

Teams were judged in several categories, such as appearance, routine difficulty, enthusiasm, spirit, and motion sharpness.

The Bellwood-Antis cheerleaders were in a division that put them up against ten other schools, including: Huntingdon, Penn Cambria, Hollidaysburg, Central, and Bishop Guilfoyle. In the junior division, Bishop Guilfoyle placed second and the Penn Cambria jayvees captured the first place spot. In the varsity division, second place was awarded to Hollidaysburg and Penn Cambria, again, claimed the first place spot.