Commack Elite Take National Cheer Titles

The Commack Elite ended another successful season, garnering top spots at the 2012 UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship on Feb. 11 and 12.

The cheer league, which is part of the Commack Youth League, took two first place titles as well as a third place spot at the national competition, which was held at Disney World in Orlando Florida.

The Pee Wee and Junior divisions took the top spots in the nation, while the Senior league was named top three. They've already improved on last year's performance, when they took third and fourth place during their first trip to nationals.

"There are no words for the feeling you get when you hear your teams win and placed top three knowing how hard the competition was," said Ashley Kuhn, who directs the league and coaches the junior squad. "We as coaches are super proud of all three teams!"

Kuhn, who shares coaching duties with Gina Salkind, Matt Imbasciani and Commack High School Varsity cheerleading captain Courtney Salkind, said focus, determination and hard work went into the league's victory.

"There is a lot of work that goes into this type of competition," she said. "The girls practiced very hard...We walked into this season knowing exactly what we wanted and what we had to do to get it."

The athletes and coaches are not the only ones who contribute to the team's success, Kuhn said. Parents work hard on fundraiser to raise enough money to send the girls to Florida.