After making it three consecutive South-West Conference Championships, Newtown High School’s cheerleading team took home the Class L State Championship for the second year in a row. Actually, the Nighthawks stayed home with the title, as they performed on the mats in their home gymnasium; NHS hosted 22 Class L schools from around the state. Newtown scored 89.95 points and North Haven was second with 87.15.

Being the best in state — twice in a row — is no easy task. The Nighthawks work toward perfecting various stunts throughout most of the calendar year.

“It’s a long season. Every day they have to come in ready to work — and they do,” Head Coach Susan Bridges said.

The cheerleaders had a few miscues, but overcame them due to the complexity of their performance.

“Their routine is so jam-packed and so hard it can handle a couple hiccups. We pushed it a lot,” said Bridges, noting that safety is emphasized but that the girls are encouraged to push themselves with various tumbles, jumps, and stunts such as basket tosses, single base inversion and single base spinning skills, hand in hand, and more.

“It just amazes me what they can do,” said Bridges, noting that — just like last year when a large contingent of freshmen joined the squad and made an immediate impact — first-year high school athletes again have helped the Hawks steal the show. The team features freshmen and sophomore flyers.

“We’ve very, very lucky. I’m very proud of the kids,” Bridges said.

The team is also coached by assistants Elie Mouchantat and Caitlin Horvath. The cheer lineup is led by captains Isabella Walder, Mel Lordeiro, Abi Gonzalez, and Leticia DeOliveira. The rest of the Nighthawks include: Lily Willinger, Reese Roland, Macie Phillips, Ava Kiel, Madison Moore, Charlotte Oltran, Mikaela Sisenstein, Kaelyn Rosvally, Ellie Pickard, Cassie Shpak, Hailey Velsmid, and Brielle San Souci.

Although a lot has been accomplished, there is more to come with the Team of the Year competition, featuring all of the top teams from each state class size, back at NHS this Saturday, March 14 beginning at 3 pm. NHS is scheduled to perform at 5:46 pm.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.