When your program has progressed to the point that appearances and victories at national championships are sort of normal?

Yes, that’s a good thing.

The Burlington Pop Warner cheerleading program has been one of the area’s best for years. To close out 2017, the girls added yet another chapter to the long list of successes by winning a pair of national titles.

Even in Burlington, that was big news.
“It was quite an eventful year,” said Pop Warner cheer director Julie Paige.

Paige, whose husband William is the new president of Burlington Pop Warner, not only enjoyed seeing two Burlington football teams qualify for the playoffs, but was a major player in the girls advancing to Florida for the nationals.

A former Pop Warner cheerleader herself in Burlington, Paige coaches the D Team, who won the nation’s top prize for Level 3. Michelle Arsenault coaches the B team, Burlington’s other group of golden girls, who won the Level 4 championship, the most difficult level there is.

Both events were taped by ESPN.

In order to qualify for Florida, both teams had to do well at local and regional competitions in Lawrence, Lowell and Springfield.

It all culminated at the finals in Orlando.

In the old days, Paige would happily run to her phone to call friends and relatives with the good news.

Not anymore.

“My phone was blowing up,” she said with a laugh. “People were watching the live feed [on the internet].”

Burlington’s D squad edged out a group from San Diego by just two points.

“They’re really hard workers,” Paige said of her team. “They really are well-trained athletes.”

Cheerleading doesn’t have the luxury of a scoreboard to show which team is winning, which Paige admits always leads to some tense moments before the top squads are announced.

“You never know,” she admitted. “But no matter what, to go down there and do what they did, I was OK with whatever happened.”

Paige was equal parts happy coach and proud mother. She has daughters on each of the championship teams.

“It was a good day,” she added.

The D Team finished second in 2016, making the 2017 championship even sweeter.

“These girls have been together for three years,” Paige said. “They’ve worked so well together for so long.”

The B team’s championship was especially excited for four girls, who won a national championship for the third straight year. Jade Kim, Ashley Parnell, Grace Hanafin and Anjali Khatra all became three-time champions when the B team edged out a team from North Carolina for the nation’s top spot.

Team member Lexi Drossos was a second-time winner and Arielle Botelho won her first-ever national championship.

All six girls will be too old to compete for Pop Warner going forward, sending them out on a high note.

“They’re all so highly motivated,” said Arsenault, the B team coach, also a former Pop Warner cheerleader herself. “It was a great experience.”

The B Team’s run to the title was a little bit unexpected. After all, only six of the 29 team members were returning from the previous year’s championship team and 16 of the girls were up from the C Team.

Coaches Arsenault, Natalie Brehm and the rest of the staff also made the decision to move up from Level 3 to Level 4, making the routines and scoring much more difficult on the competitors.

Arsenault said the team never hesitated to make the move up.

“They were so determined to try it,” she said.

As 2018 begins, so too do the preparations for another year of cheering success and some shaking heads from opponents as the Burlington girls file into competitions.

“They don’t like to see us,” added Paige with a laugh.

 

 

 

The championship teams:

D Team- 　Burlington Patriots Jr. Pee Wee Level 3.

Head coach:

Julie Paige

Assistant coaches:

Sheena Molanario

Cyndie Mantia

Maribel Escobar

Melissa Mantia

 

Cheerleaders

-

Emily Andriolo

Gemma Arno

Emily Carabetta

Madelyn Dellascio

Olivia Dubrava

Chloe Flaherty

Katie Frost

Victoria Gonzalez

Sophie Joyce

Renee Lecomte

Kendall Lee

Grace Marshall

Sophia Marshall

Sydney Mercier

Giana Molinario

Nora Moodie

Lily Passaretta

Madison Patel

Ashley Pinkham

Brooklynn Richardson　

Charlotte Scola

Sydeny Sehr

Ava Sicari

Abby Ventullo

 

D Team:

Head coach:

Michelle Arsenault-

Assistant coaches:

Natalie Brehm

Noreen Pellegrino

Shannon Tedesco

Holly Tienhaara

Erica Boyle

Paula Brinklow

Cheerleaders

 

Summer Arsenault

Olivia Basile

Arielle Botelho

Bella Bouras

Allie Boyle

Ava Brehm

Caileigh Connolly

Raeanna Dallaire-Boogaard

Lexi Drossos

Grace Gerbrands

Samantha Goneau

Maddison Hammond

Grace Hanafin

Hope Hanafin

Anjali Khatra

Jade Kim

Ashlee Mackinnion

Leah Marshall

Talia Massone

Paige Mercier

Blessed Angel Muwoomya

Lindsey Paige

Ashley Parnell

Nicole Pellegrino

Emily Pigott

Gians Solari

Ella Tedesco

Ariella Tirabassi

Madison Tyman