The Peggy Cobrin Team would like to congratulate the Patriots on their third straight conference crown, nipping host Lake Zurich, 86.88-86.33. SHS also won the NSC Lake Division title for first-year head coach Erin Vance (Class of 2002).
With six years of results now in hand, some universals are starting to emerge regarding the North Suburban Conference cheerleading tournament.

The sixth renewal of the event was held Sunday morning at Lake Zurich High, and here are some of those

Regardless of the coach, Stevenson is going to be good. The Patriots were a powerhouse when Jill Freitag was at the wheel, they were dominant when Jessica Murphy was at the wheel, and theyre still awesome with first-year coach Erin Vance at the Wheel.

On Sunday, the Patriots won the NSC Lake Division (big-school) competition and were crowned overall conference champions for the third straight year.

The Bulldogs really are the big dogs in the NSC Prairie Division (small schools) ... just not the same set of Bulldogs each time.

In 2008 and 2010, the Wauconda Bulldogs won the division title. In 2009 and on Sunday, the Grant Bulldogs earned the division-championship plaque.

Barry Gurvey will man the microphone and keep the huge crowds entertained with his one-liners and musical selections.

So it went on Sunday, with Grant coach Veronica Lukemeyer one of the two happiest coaches in the building.

re ecstatic. The girls have been working extremely hard. Weve had them practicing six days a week, but theyve taken it very well, the coach said. I just proud of the way they came out and performed.

Lukemeyer was pleased to be able to be win as a send-off to Grants Mark Barczak, whos retiring as athletic director after decades of athletic service to the school.

This is a really nice way for us to send him out, she said.

The other happiest camper was Stevensons Vance, who was given the keys to the Porsche and has it going full-speed ahead as the IHSA sectional competition nears.

s very exciting to keep the tradition alive, she said.

This year, Stevenson has won its own invitational and now the conference meet. Next up is the sectional and state.

s about taking it one step at a time and continuing to improve on the score sheets, Vance said. ll take a look at the tape and the judges evaluations, make the adjustments we need to make, and move forward.

We have a week off before the Jacobs Invitational, and then its sectionals. The girls are hungry. Weve won sectionals three years in a row, and they want to make it four.

For the record, the Patriots will need to improve in the coming weeks.

Lake Zurich actually blasted through the magical 90-point barrier with its raw score on Sunday, but amassed 4.5 penalty points which cost it the team title.

We dont like to be sloppy. It was all tumbling errors ... putting hands down on the mat, said Lake Zurich coach Pam Bonnevier.

She did concede its a bit frustrating to always be chasing Stevenson across the finish line, but noted that, In the long run, performing our best in February (cheerleadings version of March Madness) is whats important, she said.

This is a team that has the ability to place in the top five at state,

The statement about state also holds true for Antioch, which had won back-to-back competitions but, on Sunday, crashed and burned, as longtime Sequoit coach Robin Gwinn put it.

But even at that, Antioch was less than a half-point behind Grant and in this sport, the Sequoits cast a giant shadow across the competition.

Once the girls got off the floor, they knew I was proud of the way they handled it (misfiring on the routine), Gwinn said. Immediately, they were talking about what they needed to do better.

This is a very young group so theres a lot of room on the upside, especially if they continue to look at things like this as an opportunity to get better.

On Saturday, Zion-Benton, Lake Zurich, Mundelein, Wauconda, Lakes, Warren, Libertyville and Vernon Hills will return to the mat at the Grayslake North Invitational.