Shaler competitive spirit team relishes top-five finish at states

By: Josh Rizzo
Thursday, January 16, 2020 | 7:28 PM

Members of the Shaler Area competitive spirit team didn’t get to the top of the PIAA small division field as they hoped they might.

But the Titans were able to navigate their way to the division finals and prove they were among the top five teams in the state at the Jan. 11 event in Hershey . Shaler, which finished fourth, was one of four teams in the top 16 not hit with a penalty during its routine.

“I honestly thought they did well,” Shaler coach Phyllis Schatz said. “They came in fourth out of 54 teams. They had zero deductions on Friday and they did a clean routine. The difficulty was high compared to the other teams.”

The Titans finished with an average score of 86.33 from the three judges. South Fayette won the championship, while Lansdale Catholic and South Park rounded out the top three.

“The top teams had very few deductions,” Schatz said. “They were clean routines and the technique was good. The difficulty for skills and tumbling at states for those teams was strong.”

Shaler, which will next compete at nationals, was a senior-laden squad. The Titans had 15 members, including seven seniors.

Schatz knows this stretch of tough meets is something they look forward to.

“They work hard all season long,” Schatz said. “We start training in the summer. Once we get our routine in the fall, they work at that. They are very determined. They have good attitudes. They want to improve their skills. This is crunch time for us. Fortunately the weather has been good. We haven’t had to cancel practices. Any time you are getting ready for competition, the weather can be iffy.”

The Titans have had a history of success since the PIAA first sponsored a championship in the sport in 2013. Shaler finished as runner-up in the medium division in 2015 and won the small division championship in 2018.

“We have always been a strong, competitive team at Shaler,” Schatz said. “I’ve had my teams competing at the national level for 25 years. We were happy when the state recognized competitive spirit as a sport to allow us to get the state-wide recognition.”

Tags: Shaler