Following a two-year absence from the mat, the East Haven cheerleading team got back in action by competing at the SCC Championship last weekend. The Yellowjackets looked anything but rusty as they turned in a second-place performance at East Haven High School on Feb. 5, marking their highest finish at SCCs in Head Coach Michelle Maru’s tenure.

East Haven held its tryouts last May and then started practicing in June. Coach Maru said the Easties have been working relentlessly to improve their routine while persevering through injuries and quarantines. However, no matter the hurdle, Coach Maru’s team kept getting back up and was determined to improve.

“They’ve had a huge growth from when we first started practicing, especially over the last month. We have a lot of younger girls on the team. We have two stunt groups in our entire team, and both of our flyers are freshmen,” Maru said. “This team has dealt with quarantines and injuries. Over the last month, we were able to put something great together.”

East Haven’s competition cheer team features senior captains Antonia Torello and Kaitlyn Kapinos; juniors Taya Ragaini, Adriana Esposito, Sofia Milano, Madison DiNuzzo, and Libbey Nastri; sophomores Emma Pascale and Sarah Zambrano; and freshmen Hannah Sawicki and Kolbey Nastri.

When the Easties competed at SCCs, Coach Maru’s assistant coach Krista Anania, who she calls her co-coach, put together all of the choreography. This year’s routine was focused on being fast and fun—two aspects that were embraced by the Yellowjackets’ athletes.

“Coach Anania puts together all of the choreography for our team. She sits down and goes through all the strengths and weaknesses. She highlights our strengths and finds ways to showcase our weaknesses,” said Maru. “We’re not really getting low points in certain areas. She puts a lot of fun and fast in the routine, and the girls love performing it. She really puts the whole thing together.”

As the Easties were performing, Maru, Anania, and volunteer assistant Tia Speringo were jumping up and down with excitement. Maru said it was the best performance that she had ever seen from the Yellowjackets. When final judging came down, East Haven placed second with a score of 82.95, only finishing behind champion Hand (87.50). It was the team’s all-time top showing at the SCC Championship with Maru, who has been coaching for nearly 15 years.

“It was amazing. The coaches were jumping up and down the whole time, because it was the best we have ever performed at this competition,” Maru said. “SCCs is a huge competition. A lot of times when we have performed in the past, we have gotten nervous. This year, it was like they performed it over and over again. It was second nature. They felt really good coming off the mat, and we felt really good watching them on it.”

When Maru was a senior at East Haven, Anania was a freshman. Maru then became Anania’s coach during Anania’s sophomore season. Now, the two coach together. Maru said that they’ve talked about placing in the top three at SCCs over the years. Consequently, finishing in second place was a dream come true for both of them.

Following the competition, Kapinos and Kolbey Nastri were named to All-SCC Team on behalf of the Yellowjackets. Nastri serves as one of the team’s flyers and, even though this is her first year of cheerleading, Maru called the freshman a natural who’s doing an amazing job of stunting and tumbling.

Kapinos is one of East Haven’s captains alongside fellow seniors Torello and Vanessa Sigular. Maru described Kapinos as one of team’s strongest performers and said that she has some of the nicest motions she’s ever seen on the cheerleading mat.

Coach Maru also credited Torello with being a strong leader, saying that she sets great example and is always happy to be cheering. Maru added that Torello went from being a shy freshman to an advanced cheerleader everyone on the team looks up to.

While Sigular isn’t on the competition squad, Maru praised the senior captain for always being there for her teammates both on and off the mat. Maru added that Sigular is always pushing her fellow Easties to succeed.

East Haven needed to dig deep and overcome numerous obstacles on its way to recording one of its best scores in team history. Although the Yellowjackets entered the season with some questions, Coach Maru said that her athletes answered every one of them with their stellar showing at the SCC meet.

“We have never had a score this high at SCCs. They really want to work hard at practice. They push themselves to be the best they could be. After two years off, no one knew what to expect,” Maru said. “We always tell them to go out and have fun. When they have fun, they perform well, which is what we saw. They’ve overcome too much and pushed through everything. They showed they deserved to be back.”

East Haven will finish its season by competing at the Class L State Championship on Saturday, March 5. Coach Maru said that the Yellowjackets have put themselves in a great position to succeed at states and, if they continue working hard, anything is possible.

“We talked about everything we need to do to succeed and even potentially raise our score,” said Maru. “We’re going to change some things in our routine. We’re going to keep some things that we know will stay consistent. We’re excited. We’re just going to keep working hard at practice. If we ever had a chance to place at states, this is the year.”

The East Haven cheerleading team’s roster also includes juniors Callie Capotorto, and Ella Severino; sophomores Kayla DeJesus, Jayla Albarran, Alexandra Lesco, Beauney Mera, and Donna Garcia; and freshman Marlana Dias.