Those Danbury High School cheerleaders seemingly have this annual tradition of skills, acrobatic excellence, and some great entertainment during their competition performances, and that has led to its vast collection of championships.
All those hours of hard work at practice, all that commitment, that team chemistry, and stepping to the fore at the competition meets resulted in Danbury doubling up with team titles at the FCIAC and state championship meets for the third consecutive year this past winter.
Coach Joann Tatarzycki’s cheerleading Hatters won their seventh consecutive conference team title at the 2024 FCIAC Cheerleading Championships on Feb. 3, and four weeks later they three-peated at the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class LL Cheer Competition on March 2.
“This past winter’s success was very satisfying, as we were the defending back-to-back Class LL champions and it is very difficult to repeat (for a second time),” Tatarzycki said. “This team was focused from the start with a difficult routine to master, and it worked extremely hard day in and day out to perform at their highest level. I am extremely proud of their work ethic, both on the mat and in the classroom. Every member of the team made the honor roll at school, which made me the most proud of all.”
Greenwich put forth a legitimate challenge toward ending Danbury’s lengthy streak of FCIAC championships on Feb. 3 at Trumbull High School. Danbury won with a score of 94.8 to finish 2.5 points higher than Greenwich, the first runner-up with a score of 92.3. Danbury won last year’s FCIAC championship with an 89.5 and Greenwich was the first runner-up with 79.79, so the Cardinals did a credible job of closing the gap this year.
Fairfield Ludlowe was the second runner-up this year with an 83.6, St. Joseph (82.55) was the third runner-up, and Stamford (78.85) was the fourth runner-up to complete the top five out of the 12 total teams.
Four Saturdays later at the same site, on March 2, Danbury won its third consecutive state Class LL championship with a score of 98.1 and Greenwich (93.65) again was runner-up. Newtown (88.05) placed third.
There were 11 FCIAC teams out of the 18 total teams in the state Class LL competition and six conference teams placed among the top 10. In addition to Danbury and Greenwich placing 1-2, Fairfield Ludlowe (82.7) placed fourth, Stamford (76.4) was sixth, while Fairfield Warde (70.7) and Brien McMahon (69.85) placed ninth and 10th, respectively.
Coach Tatarzycki had 11 competing cheerleaders in her lineup which was pretty much an even balance of upperclassmen and underclassmen.
Ella Brown began her fantastic career by being one of the 20 cheerleaders selected to the 2021 All-FCIAC Cheerleading First Team when she was a freshman and Brown ended it by making the All-FCIAC First Team and Class LL All-State team for the fourth straight year. She was also an Nfinity All-American cheerleader and honored by the FCIAC and the CIAC as a scholar-athlete.
Eriana Rivera and Stephannie Da Silva were the other two seniors. The three seniors were the team’s tri-captains and four-year varsity cheerleaders.
“What I liked and respected about this team was the leadership of the senior captains, who pushed and encouraged the rest of the team to be better not only with cheerleading but with school as well,” Tatarzycki said. “They led by example with being honor roll students with high GPA’s and kept constant track of all the athletes on the team to make sure everyone was doing well in school. They are wonderful role models and great leaders.”
Rivera, who worked very hard at her physical therapy to come back after undergoing shoulder surgery, won the Sportsmanship Award. Tatarzycki praised Da Silva as “a four-year member who also participated on the JV level without any complaining to make her skills better. This year she made the Class LL All-State team.”
Chassidy Coates, Addison Michalek and Eliana Haddad were Danbury’s three juniors. Coates, who has been on the team all three years, made the All-FCIAC First Team. Michalek has been with the team two years, and this was Haddad’s first year.
Superb sophomore Avi Steele was selected to the All-FCIAC First Team in both of her first two years. Emma Wohlrab was the other sophomore.
The three freshmen were Rebecca Araujo, Julia Conte, and Camila Gonzalez.
“This team came to every practice with the desire to get better! When something wasn’t going their way, they worked harder,” Tatarzycki said. “They were very determined to be able to perform elite stunting and worked so hard every day on their skills.
“They also bonded as a family on their down time, spending time together outside of cheerleading and also at school,” Coach T continued. “They really pushed each other and encouraged each other to gain new skills. This team was under a lot of pressure from the start due to the expectations of alumni, parents, and friends, and was able to achieve success while under that pressure.”
The Danbury cheerleaders do their thing in several situations beyond the judged competition events. They have spirit seasons in which they cheer for Danbury High School’s football and basketball teams, and they also perform and entertain for large gatherings of fellow students at the school’s pep rallies.
Danbury, Greenwich, and Stamford each had three of the 20 total cheerleaders selected to the 2023-24 All-FCIAC Cheerleading First Team and Fairfield Ludlowe, St. Joseph, Fairfield Warde and Wilton each had two.
In addition to the Danbury trio of Brown, Coates, and Steele, the other 17 all-conference first-teamers were Serra Erensen, Siera Rollins, and Sophia Pavonetti of Greenwich; Matilda Deenihan, Kayla Scanlon, and Bianca Guastella of Stamford; Olivia Fusco and De’ana Derosier of Fairfield Ludlowe; Mara Stanko and Adrienne LaRiviere of St. Joseph; Camryn Michaels and Katie Brandt of Fairfield Warde; Elisse Hardy and Summer Gardner of Wilton; Mary Baker of Staples; Trumbull’s Maddy Farasciano; and Ridgefield’s Caroline Baker.
This was Coach Tatarzyycki’s 20th year with Danbury’s program – her 13th as the head varsity coach after coaching the junior varsity during her first seven years.
Danbury has the current record of 12 FCIAC championships since the Hatters won the first conference championship meet ever in 1999. Danbury won three straight from 2001-03, the fifth title occurred in 2007, and there is this current streak of seven straight from 2017-24.
Fairfield Ludlowe has the second most FCIAC championships with the five the Falcons won in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. Fairfield Warde won four conference titles (2005, 2006, 2011 and 2014) for the third most.