Her teammates on the West Side Starz cheerleading squad were racing through their routine in the final practice before heading to Disney World in Orlando, Fla., to compete in the biggest competition of their lives.

For eight months, she had practiced with the team in preparation for their appearance today in the national all-star cheerleading championship sponsored by the Universal Cheerleaders Association, the nation's oldest and largest cheerleading organization.

The two-day tournament, which concludes tonight, is one of the largest all-star cheerleading competitions in the nation, featuring more than 10,000 cheerleaders from 300 teams across the nation. Select competitions will be televised on the ESPN sports network on an unspecified date.

When the Starz take the floor this afternoon, Seman, one of the team's top gymnasts, will be watching from the stands. She's the victim of several torn tendons she suffered while landing a back flip in gymnastics class nine days before the competition.

"It's just so hard. I can't do anything at all," a dejected Seman said as she watched her teammates during an emergency practice the coaches called to make changes to compensate for her loss.

The injury was the latest in a series of obstacles the Starz have faced on their path to Disney, which was documented in a three-part series that appeared in the Times Leader in December.

All-star cheer teams are made up of cheerleaders from various schools. The teams compete at tournaments sponsored by more than 200 companies that hold cheerleading competitions in the United States. The routines combine complex cheer and dance moves with high-level gymnastics that are more difficult than the typical routines seen at high school football or basketball games.

Seman, one of the most experienced Starz members, played a critical role in the team's routine, performing difficult floor jumps and flips. Her loss forced head coaches Tammy Blannard and Amy Fry to make several significant adjustments - changes the girls had only one practice to grasp.

Three months ago, the team faced a similar dilemma when Fry's daughter broke her ankle days before the team competed at the qualifying tournament for the Disney competition.

In each of the past three years, the team has suffered at least one major injury before a big competition. Two years ago, one of the girls broke her arm the day before a championship tournament. Last year, another girl tripped on a gym mat and sprained her ankle the week before a key competition, while another came down with a stomach virus the day of the event.

In each case, the remaining girls pulled it together. But the coaches know the task at Disney is far more daunting than anything they've ever faced.

The team, originally made up of 30 girls, has only 28 going to the competition due to Seman's injury and another girl's inability to make the trip.

The Starz, based in Larksville, formed as an all-star team in 2004 and are relative newcomers to the all-star cheer industry. The team has never competed in a competition of this size, and the lack of experience could hurt them.

At Disney, they will compete against 12 other teams within their division, several of which come from large, highly accomplished gyms that have been around for decades.

The routine they will perform at Disney is significantly more difficult than the one they used to qualify for the tournament, Blannard noted. With the help of choreographer Tara Coletti, a new section of jumps was added. They also increased the difficulty level to make up for the biggest shortcoming within the team - the fact that only nine of the 28 girls have the ability to do certain floor gymnastics moves, such as a back handspring. They will be competing against teams in which all girls can do those types of gymnastics.

The girls have responded well to the challenges they've faced, learning new positions and practicing them repeatedly until they got them right, Blannard said.

"I think if the girls keep a positive attitude we'll be OK," Blannard said. "Its too bad Jordan is hurt, but we have to dig in and do what we have to do."

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