Four All-Star Wilton Cheerleaders Competed for Top National Title

Four Wilton girls who compete as All-Star cheerleading athletes on area teams recently traveled to Orlando, FL in early May to compete at “The Summit,” Varsity All-Star’s most prestigious event of the year. 

With only 5-percent of all All-Star cheerleading teams from across the country receiving a qualifying “bid” to compete, the girls’ teams from two cheer gyms–Spirit All-Stars (Hamden) and Xtreme Cheer (Norwalk)–are recognized as some of the nation’s best.  Megan Meyer, age 14 of Spirit All-Stars Emeralds, competed in the Large Senior Level 3 division; Jessica Favarola, age 15 and Kelsey Rhodes, age 11 of Xtreme Cheer Blaze, competed in the Senior co-ed Level 3 division; and, Abbey Reber, age 13, and Rhodes of Xtreme Cheer Shine competed in the Senior Level 2 division.

All four girls took the floor on Saturday, May 3 with their teams in hopes of placing within the top 50-percent of their division, in order to move forward into final round competition the following day. 

Reber, Rhodes and their Senior 2 teammates performed a courageous routine with a honorable performance at the end of day one, although they did not advance to final rounds. 

However, Meyer, Favarolo and Rhodes all succeeded Saturday with two nearly flawless performances which helped them advance:  Favarola and Rhodes with their teammates on Xtreme Cheer Blaze performed a nearly perfect routine allowing them to move onto finals placing them eighth out of 18 teams; and Meyer with the Spirit Emeralds performed a perfect, zero-deduction routine which tied them for first with the well-known Pacific Coast Magic team from California.

Going into Sunday’s final event, Meyer, Favarolo, Rhodes and their respective teammates were hopeful to perform equal to, or better than, the previous day. Performing live at the HP Field House in Disney’s Wide World of Sports, the athletes took the main stage under the lights and cameras of ESPN 3.

First up was Favarola,  Rhodes and their Blaze teammates from Xtreme Cheer. They performed another fantastic routine, earning them seventh place overall out of 18 teams.

Concluding the day as the last team to perform in the Large Senior Level 3 division, Meyer and her Spirit Emerald teammates performed another zero-deduction routine leaving a very respectable impression on the competition. The Emeralds ended sixth, only missing first place by .6 of a point. The division was so extremely close, ties were determined for both first- and seventh places.

Both All-Star gyms are thrilled to start another season with tryouts right around the corner and are hopeful to attend this event again. Xtreme Cheer, with locations in Norwalk, CT and Somers, NY, have tryouts and classes posted to their website at XtremecheerCT.net.  Spirit All-Stars with locations in Hamden, Greenwich, Brookfield, and East Windsor, CT have tryouts and classes posted to their website at CTSpirit.com.