Stoughton High Cheerleaders Prove to Be One of Best Squads in Nation

A journey that began back in November when the team qualified for Nationals ended Monday evening with the returning to Stoughton High, celebrating a ninth-place finish at the national competition in Orlando, Florida, held March 24 and 25.

Nearly 40 squads competed at the tournament.

A Stoughton Police cruiser met the team’s two buses when they got off Route 24 and escorted the team back to Stoughton High.

“It was really exciting to be there as a team and be together,” senior captain Lauren Cellucci said. “The competition was a different competition than what we were used to so it was really exciting, a big stage…we had a lot of fun.”

“They cheered with their hearts—that’s what I told them to do,” coach Barbara Mofford said of her team’s performance at Nationals.

“It couldn’t have happened to a better team, a better group of seniors,” she said.

A fifth place showing at states in the fall season this November .

In the winter season, the team kept improving.

On March 11, the SHS team came in second at the state competition in Lowell, finishing behind only first place David Prouty High School (Spencer, MA).

Stoughton placed ahead of both Bristol Plymouth Regional and Norwood, the only schools to finish ahead of Stoughton at this winter season’s regional competition, held the weekend prior to states.

The team got to compete in the New England competition prior to departing for Nationals and got to cheer on the SHS boys’ basketball team in their with Brighton at the TD Garden, home of the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins.

In addition to great skill on the mat, the team’s trip to compete at Nationals was made possible thanks to the generosity of the community through multiple donations.

Cellucci and fellow senior captains Stephanie Amaral, Nicole Fuentes-Vargas and Rachel Resurreccion helped lead the team this season. The captains described this experience at Nationals as reaching the pinnacle of their high school cheering careers.

“It was great to end the year like this,” Resurreccion said. “We started with New Englands our freshmen year [and we’re] ending with Nationals our senior year. It was a great ride.”

“Four years, eight seasons…we’ve climbed the ladder; now we’re at the top,” Cellucci said.

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Members of the team include: Stephanie Amaral, Bianca Batte, Michelle Bisbee, Kaylie Cassidy, Lauren Cellucci, Elizabeth Eckhart, Vanessa Ferreira, Annmarie Fronduto, Nicole Fuentes Vargas, Meaghan Hill, Donyea Holloway, Nicole Kerman, Lillian Lamplough, Keion Lugay, Stephanie McEachern, Taylor McGibbon, Chelsea Morris, Erin Petrie, Erin Pike, Rachel Resurreccion, Madeline Rosen, Madeline Sinkus, Johannah Smith, Sierra Watson and coaches Barbara Mofford and Brittany Kramer.