Cheering at, and for, Chaney

YOUNGSTOWN — Eleven young women from Chaney High School are headed to the Cleveland Convention Center this weekend to show they have the right stuff to bring home a national cheerleading championship.

The young women are members of the Chaney High School cheerleaders’ competition squad and will compete in the Champion Cheer Central Inc. Open Nationals Saturday and Sunday at the Cleveland Convention Center.

The squad has been walking away with top awards in competitions across the region and the trip to the nationals is the high point of the season.

The full cheerleading squad, most commonly seen at football and basketball games, stands at 20 members and features students who were at both Chaney and Wilson high schools last year. Wilson was closed and half of its students re-assigned to Chaney this year.

The competition squad, with 13 members, takes its show on the road, putting its skills up against other high school squads and generally walking away with top honors.

Only 11 of its members have been selected to participate in the nationals, said coach Romell Williams, a former Youngstown State University cheerleader. They’ll perform two routines in the competition.

Read more in Friday’s Vindicator and on Vindy.com