By Kerry Dunning
Unpublished Article
While not a varsity intercollegiate sport, cheerleading’s 1996-97 all-girls squads finished as a runner-up and then as national champions.
Staci Sutton has seen it all. She cheered on the 1997. After serving as the assistant cheerleading coach in 2001, Sutton became the head coach in 2002.
“Jen Jarrett was the director of the program (and coed squad), and John Abell the head coach of the all-girls.,” said Sutton, currently the director of Spirit Groups, Marketing Coordinator & head Cheerleading coach at FSU. “There hasn’t been much written about the title or anything in between. That may be because immediately after the title year, FSU did not have an all-girls squad for several years.”
Abell was just three years removed as a University of Kentucky cheerleader to the FSU head coaching job, and the all-girls was only in its second year of existence. The championship was held in Daytona Beach in early April. There were two rounds of competition, and only by getting through the first round did a team have a chance for the national title.
“It was a busy time for us, having just finished football season. We gave up spring break and missed a couple of events to get ready,” said team captain DeDe Rowan. Then most cheerleaders were ex-gymnasts while today’s young women start in tumble at a young age. “We were in the second year of the program and we were on the cusp of what is now expected.”
Rowan added, “At the time cheerleaders were treated like decoration on the sidelines. The gut these girls showed – we were the change.”
Mandy Moore Ottesen said the motivation for winning the title came from a second place at nationals in 1996. “We were disappointed so of course in 1997 we really wanted to win, and we knew we could.”
Samantha White Balanovich remembers the highs and lows of the season, much of it wrapped around injuries. “Right before nationals, I broke my nose catching a girl in a basket toss. Another teammate tore her ACL, and another broke her wrist.”
Balanovich also remembers enjoying the win uniquely. “We all decided if we won that we would run into the ocean with our uniforms on; and that’s exactly what we did.”
Laura Paredes also motivated by the missed chance in 1996. After taking a year off, but one day another sport came knocking.
“I was running around the track and Coach (Dennis) Nobles saw me looking at the pole vaulters. He asked if I was interested, and he taught me how to pole vault in a day,” said Paredes. “It was only the second year of NCAA women’s field events, and they were looking for people not afraid of flying – and that meant ex-cheerleaders and ex-gymnasts.”
Two years, two elite finishes, and a lot of lifetime friendships came from the national champion cheerleaders.