A highly impressive fourth-place finish at the Team of the Year competition, perfectly put the finishing touch on an outstanding season for the Greenwich High School cheerleading team.

Indeed, it was a winter season to remember for the Cardinals’ competitive cheerleading team, which made its mark in every event it tested its skills in against standout squads.

At Trumbull High School last month, Greenwich posted a second-place finish at the FCIAC Championships, showing they were an elite team in the conference.

“Greenwich has not placed top 2 in the All-Girl Varsity Division since 2011,” Greenwich head cheerleading coach Julia Vyskocil said. “We faced lots of injuries after FCIACs, but the girls never gave up.”

Following the FCIAC Championships, the Cardinals placed fourth out of 10 teams at a competition in Danbury, then were third out of eight squads at the Wolcott competition. Vyskocil noted the team had to make changes both weeks due to injuries.

“They fought so hard each practice,” she said.

At the CIAC Class LL Championships, held at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven early this month, Greenwich was awarded a sixth-place finish out of 18 teams.

“States week was awesome, they worked so hard and we placed sixth out of 18 teams in Class LL,” Vyskocil said. “We knew we deserved better and we were fortunate enough to be invited to the Team of the Year Competition.”

The Team of the Year Competition, which took place nearly two weeks ago, was open to teams who placed among the top six in each class.

“Every team, no matter which class or if they were co-ed, small varsity or large varsity goes up against each other for one Team of the Year winner – we came in 4th out of 28 teams,” Vyskocil said.

Finishing fourth was the highest Greenwich has ever placed at the Team of the Year Competition.

Grace Trager, one of the Cardinals’ senior captains, reflected on the entire cheerleading season and the squad’s season-ending Team of the Year Competition.

“We started working in August and did not stop until our final competition in March,” Trager said. “As a captain, I could not have asked for a better team and ending the season on such a high note was amazing. It was nice to finally be recognized for the love, dedication and hard work we put into perfecting our routine and beating so many of the teams who beat us at states and won their respective divisions, was an amazing feeling.”

Vyskocil was excited to see how well the team concluded the season.

“It was an incredible way to end the season,” she said. “Judges announced that they had tears in their eyes because of our performance. We proved to the entire state how hard we work.”

Senior captain Lauren Civitillo, senior captain Grace Trager, sophomore Siera Rollins and freshman Claire Kilcullen were Greenwich’s 2023 Class LL All-State Team cheerleaders.

Civitillo, Grace Trager and Rollins each received All-FCIAC Team honors. Melina Cardini, Grace Trager and Civitillo were the Cards’ senior captains.

The seniors on the team who provided great leadership throughout the season included Cardini, Civitillo, Juliana Contadino and Trager.