Cheer dynasty: Tiverton captures fourth straight title

PROVIDENCE — Winning one title simply was not enough for the Tiverton High School cheerleading squad. Neither was claiming a second or the third consecutive championship.

The Tigers collected their fourth straight Small School Division crown last Saturday at the state championship meet on the campus of Johnson & Wales University.

Tiverton stepped onto the mat and performed well enough to score 165.9 points from the judges. That total was enough to best runner-up North Smithfield, Burrillville, Narragansett and St. Raphael.

“It’s like a crazy feeling. It kind of doesn’t feel real,” Tiverton assistant coach Kristen McDermott said.

Different teams have taken turns making a run at the Tigers the past four years, but they’ve all come up short. Last year, the runner-up was Burrillville. It was St. Raphael in 2017, and Rogers finished second three seasons ago.

Three Tiverton seniors — Charline Silva, Mikayla Cabral and MacKenzie Galhardo — have been members of all four championship squads. Fellow seniors Juliana Manousos and Olivia Destremps have been on three title teams and classmate Madisyn Melvin joined this year to earn her first championship.

Junior Kaylie Johnson, sophomores Alyssa Rodriques and Selena Souza and freshmen Gabrielle Galhardo and Chloe Viveiros round out the 11-member squad. Susan McDermott is the head coach.

Tiverton won the division meet in the regular season, but knew it couldn’t be overconfident heading into the state competition.

“You always want to be pushing yourself to be better than you were at divisions,” Kristen McDermott said. “You also know the teams behind you are going to be pushing, too. I feel the states can go any way. People will choose harder skills because they have nothing to lose. If they hit, it’s great. If they don’t, oh well.”

Tiverton was the last of the five Small School Division teams to compete. Although the Tigers did not see the other squads perform their routines, their coach had an inkling of what the Tigers were up against.

“I feel like our girls should be more focused on what they’re doing rather than what the other teams are doing,” Kristen McDermott said. “I did not watch the other teams, but people in the stands were updating me. From what they were telling me, all the teams were doing really well.”

Behind the scenes, things were not going well for the Tigers as they prepared for their turn in front of the crowd.

“We had a terrible practice mat,” McDermott said. “One of the stunt groups couldn’t stay up in the air. So we just kept practicing that, and we weren’t able to concentrate on anything else.”

When the Tigers performed, they were in their element. The practice session was behind them and their performance was judged six points better than any other squad in their division.

“We had a little bobble, a little hiccup, but otherwise it was a great routine,” Susan McDermott said. “I’m very proud of the girls.”

The seniors have left a legacy and will compete together one last time when Tiverton travels to Worcester State University in Massachusetts on Saturday for the New England championships.

“They’ve have done so well,” Kristen McDermott said of the seniors on the team. “And losing all of them is going to have a huge impact. Every year is a rebuilding year, but next year is really going to be a rebuilding year. We’re going to have to start with basics all over again.”