Gloucester Alumni

By Nick Curcuru , Staff Writer, Gloucester Daily Times

All things considered, Gloucester cheerleading coach Eric Bichao said his team's performance at yesterday's state meet was not too bad.

Bichao admitted his squad had an off day as they finished in fourth place in the meet with a score of 167.5, which was at New Bedford High School. The Fishermen had a minor fall in one of their stunts and what Bichao called a "big fall" on their pyramid stunt. Dracut took home first place, with North Attleboro and Whitman-Hansen finishing in second and third place respectively.

"We just had an off day," Bichao said. "We had a legitimate chance of winning if we hit our routine, but it just didn't happen today.

"But all things considered fourth place isn't too bad. We beat a couple of teams that had clean routines and besides the two falls we did pretty well."

There was a silver lining in the disappointing performance, as Gloucester will be getting a second chance to best their foes by qualifying for Saturday's New England Championship competition at the University of New Hampshire. Normally the top three teams qualify for the New England's, but Whitman-Hansen will not be attending Saturday's event, leaving a spot open for Gloucester.

"We get a mulligan," Bichao said. "The girls were very excited to get a second chance because when they hit their routine they are just as good as any team in New England. We will re-group this week and fix the mistakes we made (today)."

Unlike the last several seasons, Gloucester competed this season in the all girl division, as they did not have a boy on the squad that would have entered them in the co-ed division.

Saturday's New England competition will be the last for Gloucester this season as they will not be going to the National Championships this season to defend the title they won last year. Bichao cited the economy as the reason for the team not going.

"With the economy the way it is it would have been too much money," Bichao said. "The kids already had to pay high user fees, I couldn't ask them to raise much more."