The transition from high school to college could be a tough one — especially for student-athletes adjusting to sports at the collegiate level.
Of course, having a familiar face from high school certainly can help with the transition. Actually, having four familiar faces around is even better.
This fall, four former members of the St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows, varsity cheerleading team are all now teammates once again for the St. John’s University, Jamaica, cheer squad. It’s rare for even two high school teammates to team up in college, so having four is quite unique.
Base Mariana Guerrero, base Sofia Goran, flyer Sabrina Pitis, and base Jillian Anzalone are freshmen for the Johnnies. Taking the Prep connections even further, the Red Storm’s head coach is Annie Kambouras, a 2016 Prep graduate who not only cheered at the school but also coached these four freshmen as a varsity assistant for the Terriers.
“They’re familiar with the area, they’re familiar with the people, and obviously they’re familiar with me,” said Kambouras, currently in her second season as the St. John’s head cheer coach. “I know their level and what they can do, so now I know how to challenge them and apply them to the college level as well.”
College cheerleading follows a rigorous schedule. The Johnnies have morning lifts twice per week and then three-hour practices three times a week. That’s in addition to classes, schoolwork, and any other extracurricular activities.
Luckily for this group of four, the preparation they received at St. Francis has made the jump to college seamless. They don’t call it St. Francis “Preparatory” for nothing!
“Prep really focuses on you,” said Anzalone, from Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament parish, Bayside. “Being in college now, you look back at how the Prep prepared you. With that busy schedule, it made us experts at time management, so now it’s the norm for us in college.”
The cheer team is all set to root on the St. John’s men’s/women’s soccer teams, volleyball team, and men’s/women’s basketball teams. That includes a few special contests at Madison Square Garden, the world’s most famous arena.
Competition season — from November through January — is approaching quickly, so the Johnnies are working diligently on their gameday routines for the upcoming national competition at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World, Florida. It’s no wonder they’re practicing three hours a day, following a sixth-place finish in the nation last year.
“We’re working on our stunts and making them harder,” said Pitis, who started cheerleading in middle school. “This has helped us come together as a team, trust each other, and continue to get better. In cheerleading, you need a lot of trust.”
The familiar Prep faces have made these young women feel extremely relaxed as they settle into their new surroundings. A relaxed student-athlete typically has a better chance of reaching their full potential.
“It’s honestly been so helpful,” said Guerrero, who was born in Mexico City before attending St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy in Flushing and St. Francis Prep. “It’s made me feel comfortable to know that I have some of my best friends here already. It’s made the transition so much easier.”
“I was really stressed about making cheer in high school, but I wasn’t as stressed in college because I knew my friends were going to be there for me,” said Goran, a Bellerose native who was on the Prep’s gymnastics team before it disbanded after her freshman season.
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At major competitions, judges focus on a team’s sharpness, loudness, energy, and the cleanliness of their stunts. To an outsider, every team is phenomenal, but the judges are keenly aware of the technical skills of each routine.
The Johnnies are poised to turn in another impressive performance at the Nationals. These four former Terriers will contribute in any way they can as they continue to soak everything in as freshmen.
To continue growing the program, Kambouras hosts cheerleading clinics for local high school cheerleaders. In fact, some of these former Prep student-athletes were enamored with the St. John’s program after attending one of the clinics.
Keeping the connections with the St. Francis program has helped Kambouras add four talented freshmen to this year’s squad. We could be seeing the start of a Queens pipeline, where student-athletes from the Prep stay within their home borough, right at St. John’s.
From top academics to competitive cheer to the development of necessary time management skills, the values instilled in these athletes at St. Francis Prep will continue to drive them forward in their collegiate cheer careers.