GUILDERLAND — Down the escalator they came. With a look of triumph, the cheerleaders descended to the throng cheering for them at the Albany International airport.

The Guilderland cheerleading squad, for the second year in a row, came home from Florida with not just suntans but also a first-place trophy. The Flying Dutch won the co-ed division at the Contest of Champions national competition at The Walt Disney World Resort’s Wide World of Sports complex last week.

The Guilderland squad spent the week in central Florida, but it was all fun.
"It was very nerve-wracking," said Guilderland Coach Patty Palmer. "I was so nervous this time. We had a rough start. It took us awhile to get going. We had some injuries this season. The team worked really hard. They never got down; they kept plugging along and did great.
"Heading down this year," Palmer continued, "I felt a lot more pressure, after winning it last year. I was worried the seniors might not have the same experience as last year. But it was magical. The kids were wonderful. They stuck together and were a good unit."
"Last year was really fun," said senior Nick Zanotta. "It was a blast doing it this year. This team has a lot of chararcter, and they brought it out in competition."

Guilderland was up against three teams from Florida. Two of the teams, the Dutch had competed against before. The third was a new team.
"I wasn’t sure what to expect," Palmer said. "One team was close to us. We watched the other teams, and they gave us a little bit of a fight. It was very close. We beat the second-place team by two points."

Palmer, who is usually too nervous to watch the results being announced, knew the result when she saw the reaction of the parents that went along on the trip.
"We had a lot of parents and a lot of new parents who went," Palmer said. "I knew it was good when I looked back and saw the parents, and the senior parents had tears in their eyes. I knew they were happy."

"Best-kept secret"

Palmer also had more reason to be nervous right before the competition.
"The team was in back and there were signs all over saying ‘Best kept secret at Disney,’" Palmer said. "I kept thinking that Guilderland cheerleading is the best kept secret. Traveling to practices and competitions, we learn a lot about each other. A lot of the kids were saying that they wouldn’t be back to Disney until they came with their kids."
"It was a blast when we got down there," Zanotta said. "We still had plenty of time to prepare for the competition. We went to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot [Center], Animal Kingdom, MGM [Studios] and Downtown Disney. We were going more on adrenaline than sleep.
"As a team, we bonded," Zanotta added. "Down there, we really came together."
"It was exciting," said senior Amanda Heacock. "Last year was more of a shock. This year we knew if we came through we would get it."
"It was our second year going down there so we knew our way around," added senior Sarah Denniston. "It was fun experiencing it with a new team."
"We saw how we’ve progressed over the years," added senior Randi Gemmiti.

The three seniors have been on the cheer team since their sophomore years.
"I think in previous years," Denniston said, "we’ve followed the older kids. It’s different this year. I think we are the leaders of the team and the younger kids are looking up to us as individuals."

Building on success

The three girls said that they don’t want to let down the younger cheerleaders nor as the alumni who were successful before them. That pushes the team to continue to succeed.
"We’ve progressed each year," Denniston said. "The team brings a little more. We’ve seen different levels of competition and what helps us is our originality. We know we have to be original"
"Every group wants the same thing as the team before them," Denniston added. "We want to keep Guilderland strong as a good team."
"We’ve seen a couple of different levels of cheerleading," Gemmiti said. "We’ve seen how hard the routines have gotten. We put a lot of work into what we do now."

The team had some new fans cheering for it and they had plenty to cheer about on the day of the competition.
"It was weird down there," Lloyd said, "because no one knew who we were. Here we’re treated well, but down there we were no special team."
"The competition was the highest caliber we’ve ever seen," Zanotta said. "It was hard to get ready, but people expect big things from us. We hit some big stunts and our routine really came together."
What’s next"

Some of the male cheerleaders are looking to go to the University of Albany and might cheer for the Great Danes, who are coached by Palmer. Zanotta and Lloyd have football as an option. Zanotta is also looking at Harvard University and Lloyd is looking at Albany or some Division III schools.

The three senior females haven’t decided where they are going to school, but cheerleading might be a factor for them. They do know that their final campaign as Guilderland cheerleaders is almost over.
"I would like to go to a school that has a good team," Denniston said. "I’ve thought about it more since this season is coming to a close."
"I’ve thought about it more," Gemmiti agreed, "especially since I know that this year is almost over."
"Ups and downs"

The Dutch had to deal with some adversities during the season as they prepared to make the trip to Florida.
"We had a few ups and downs," Palmer said. "One of the tumblers fractured her hand. And we had a few other injuries. We got everybody back the weekend before we left. The kids did real well at practice. They worked real hard and came in set to work. They kept saying, ‘We want to finish it up.’"

The Dutch did have a lot of experience in key positions.
"We have 12 seniors," Palmer said. "And all five flyers are seniors. We’ll really need to rebuild on that."

All the boys on the team are also seniors. So Palmer will have to rebuild there next year. But that can wait.
"I’m not worried at all about that right now," she said.

Zanotta and Lloyd are joined this season by Ryan Yando, Jared Moriarty, and D.J. Johnson.
"One of the guys told me he has played every sport there is," Palmer said. "He’s done boxing and he plays football. He said this is a different feeling. That it’s wonderful. Donovan Lloyd put a nice light on it for me. He said it was an unbelievable rush to get out there and be ready to compete. All three new boys stepped in and did a good job. The two senior boys helped out a lot."
"This is one of the best teams I’ve been on," Lloyd said. "I’m new to the sport, but I’m happy I did it."

Zanotta, who is one of the returners, recruited some of the new guys and convinced Lloyd to come out for the team before the two were teammates on the football squad.
"I started on him before football," Zanotta said. "I said, ‘Why not do it"’
"We have two returning senior guys and we lost two other ones," Zanotta added. "We had shoes that needed to be filled in the guy department."

It took awhile for Lloyd to get the hang of the sport. He said he joined to meet girls.
"Obviously, I took some criticism when I first started," Lloyd said of the reaction from other students. "But when I got going, I was pretty happy I did it. It was not as bad as I thought, in the end. There wasn’t anyone talking. It’s great to see how far we came together.
"I got a lot more into it than I planned," Lloyd added. "During the first or second competition, I said, ‘Oh, there are no more games.’"
"He found out right after the first practice that this was pretty intense," said Zanotta. "It didn’t take much time for him to learn how much fun the cheerleading world really is."
"Really thrilled"

The seven senior girls are all returning members of the team. They passed on their experience to the new members of the team, Palmer said.

The Dutch also get help from former cheerleaders.
"It’s nice that the alumni are always making sure that everything is going well," Palmer said. "They were calling me in the days leading up to the competition and that night. Tori [the coach’s daughter] comes and helps us. Some alumni come in and help with tumbling, and some of the boys that graduated last year come in and give pointers. It’s great that the teams from before root for teams of today."

The Dutch competed in the Suburban Council championships last weekend at Ballston Spa and will be heading to the Big Apple Classic in New York City this weekend.

Guilderland is usually the strongest team in the area; this year the competition was a little weaker.
"In our area, there was a lot of coaching turnover," Palmer said. "Teams are getting on their feet and not as competitive as they’ve been in the past. Scotia and Mohonasen are usually pretty good. We didn’t have them to use as a target in local competition. That made it a little more nerve-wracking. We were not put to the test."

Palmer is the anchor of the program at Guilderland. As athletes come and go, she is keeping the program successful. But, she said, she gets a lot of help from the cheerleaders.
"They’re really nice kids," Palmer said. "We have great parents and great kids."

Palmer will miss these seniors, as much as any other group.
"It’s sad to end," Palmer said. "We want to finish strong here locally. Ballston Spa is our only competition. They’ve set their sites on us. We went head-to-head with them once in Utica."

The Dutch are pleased, though, that they have another national title to show off locally.
"Everybody was sweating it out," Palmer said. "We’re really thrilled. It’s great to do it two years in a row and continue the legacy and be a part of it. Hopefully, we’ll go back next year. We want to be even more. Grand Champion is dangling in front of us."