Getting Noticed

They definitely made their presence known.

Recently, "Blackout," the senior level-5 cheerleading team from Keystone Extreme Cheer Gym in Olyphant, headed to Indianapolis to compete in the Jamfest Cheer Supernationals, one of the largest cheerleading competitions in the country, with more than 500 teams in various divisions. They were the only team from Northeastern Pennsylvania and this was the first time ever. They competed against 10 other teams in the "small senior restricted co-ed cheer" division and ended up in third place with a final score of 87.26 (out of 100). Blackout has 19 members from all over the area, including Dickson City, Jessup, Dunmore and Archbald.

It wasn't a win, but "that is an amazing achievement," said Denise Olewnik, the owner of the gym. "Being amongst the best in the nation and competing side-by-side with them only raises the bar for our program. During the awards ceremony they brought the top three teams in their division to the front of the floor and it was a huge honor to be up there with some of the most talented teams in the United States."

"Supernationals was the best experience of my life" said Danielle Oliveri, a member of the team. "It really meant a lot that other organizations came down to watch and cheer us on. I met a ton of new cheer friends and hopefully Keystone Extreme got our name out in the cheer world a little more."

Carla Blakeslee, a parent of one of the performers, used the world "surreal" to describe the moment when the team members were called up to stand next to two of the most well-known teams in the country.

"I was crying I was so overwhelmed with so many different emotions and just couldn't believe how far they had come. All weekend we had athletes from other gyms approaching our team to tell them how amazing they were and it really made them feel great. They really made a name for themselves."

Rachel Holena, who has cheered with the team for five years, said she has never seen a team as ready as for a competition.

"It's only early in the season but many challenges were set before us that we just pushed aside and worked together as a team to accomplish our goals," she said. "If something was going wrong during warmups, you could hear the team yelling for you. Walking off the floor both days we all had the biggest smile on our faces. Even though first place is ideal, I could not be any prouder of my team and our third rank in the nation."

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