IN West Jefferson Hills Spring 2025 | Page 44

WEST JEFFERSON HILLS SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS— THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL

est Jefferson Hills

WEST JEFFERSON HILLS SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS

TJ Cheer Brings Home First State Championship

It’ s a season that starts in the heat of summer and can stretch into February. Cheerleading has changed, Thomas Jefferson High School cheerleading coach Kim Stadelman admits. No longer is it reserved for the sidelines on Friday nights in the fall.

“ It breaks my heart to know that people don’ t know or understand the amount of work these girls put in,” Stadelman said.“ Cheerleading has evolved into a sport. You need skills, talent, and athleticism.”

And like other sports, cheerleading crowns champions. And Stadelman’ s group is proud to wear this year’ s crown. On Friday, January 31, the Thomas Jefferson High School cheerleaders won the PIAA Competitive Spirit 3A Small Varsity Championship – the first cheer championship in the school’ s history.

With their performance at the WPIAL competitive spirit championships, the cheerleaders qualified for the state championships in late-January in Reading. And despite a rough warm-up in a new arena on the first day, the girls executed a zeropoint reduction routine and advanced straight through to the finals. When a familiar opponent – South Fayette – lost a fraction of a point in the final routine, the Jaguars claimed their first state title.

“ Everyone has a reason why they’ re cheering, whether it’ s their passion or something to do with friends,” Stadelman professed.“ Everyone has to find that reason. My reason is these kids. I’ ve made memories with them that are priceless, and this is definitely one of them.”

Trio of TJ Wrestlers Repeats at WPIAL Championships

History repeated itself at the WPIAL Wrestling Individual Championships at Canon-McMillan High School on February 21 and 22. For the second straight year, senior wrestlers Maddox Shaw( 152 wt. class), Bode Marlow( 172 wt. class), and Shep Turk( 285 wt. class) were crowned as WPIAL champions in their respective weight classes.

Three other TJ Jaguars joined them on the medal stand. Brayden White was the WPIAL runner-up, Zach Rehak came in fourth place, and Zach LaBryer came in fourth place in their respective weight classes.

Through Teamwork and Tenacity, TJ Gymnasts Win Third WPIAL Championship

The seven student-athletes on the Thomas Jefferson High School gymnastics team tend to want to make their routines more difficult. Head coach Jodi Cummings said that was one of the signs that pointed towards a successful 2024- 2025 season.

This year’ s team was young, however. With a number of freshmen on the team, Cummings said she wasn’ t sure of how the season would go until everyone could get acquainted. But as the season progressed, the coaches began to see each athlete’ s strengths and just how hard they were working.

“ We’ re a small team; seven isn’ t big,” Cummings said.“ We have to depend on everyone to do their best to make us as strong as we are. The upperclassmen had a huge role in bringing the freshmen in and helping to guide them in the tough competitions.”

TJ Gymnastics finished the regular season as the undefeated section champions. But Cummings was quick to point out that didn’ t guarantee success in the WPIAL championships on February 7 and 8.

“ These competitions come down mostly to beam,” Cummings explained.“ A small error and you lose a half point every time you fall off. But they put in the time in the gym so it was their time to go out and do what they do.”

And what they did was beat out North Allegheny by fractions of a point to claim the high school’ s third gymnastics championship. The other championships were won in 2019 and 2020.

On the second day of the WPIAL championships, TJ gymnasts won medals in the individual competitions.

In the gold division, Riley Barna was the WPIAL champion in vault. Cam Noderer came in fifth place. Barna was the WPIAL champion in the all-around. Noderer finished in fourth place. Nicole Parsons finished in fifth place. Noderer is the WPIAL champion in floor. Parsons finished in third place. Barna was the silver-medal winner in the bars. Noderer came in fifth place. Barna also finished second in the beam, and Parsons finished in fifth place. In the silver division, Sarafay Phiri won third place in the floor.

42 WEST JEFFERSON HILLS