Waimea High School’s cheer team placed third in the medium division at the 2018 Zippy’s Cheerleading State Championships.
The Menehune cheer team competed at the state tournament Saturday at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu. Waimea scored 491 points to place in the top three.
“I’m just so proud and happy. They set their goal to place in the top five. They did it, and it came in top three,” said Waimea cheer coach Roxanne Cardejon on Tuesday. “I couldn’t be prouder of their performance. They upped their level and skills for states from KIF. That helped us out a lot. Having a young team was a challenge, to see how fast they’d mature and how fast they can understand the pressure. They did a really good job with that.”
Sacred Hearts Academy, of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, won the medium division championship with 513.25 points. Baldwin High School, of the Maui Interscholastic League, was second with 507.50 points.
Moanalua High School, of the Oahu Interscholastic Association, won the large division championship with 520.50 points. Mililani High School, of the OIA, was second with 511.25 points. Punahou School, of the ILH, was third with 477.50.
“What stood out the most, the challenge for us in the past few weeks before we left was our tumbling,” Cardejon said. “The girls weren’t hitting it. They weren’t landing it correctly. But at states, they came out with so much pride and energy to sell their routine. They just wanted to do their best. Their goal was to walk off that mat with no regrets.
“When I saw them, their first move was their standing tumbling, and they hit that clean. I knew they were going to do really good from there on. It brought tears to us coaches cheering on the side. It was like, ‘Wow.’ (We felt the energy) through them. It really brought tears, joy and happiness. It was really good.”
Waimea won this year’s Kauai Interscholastic Federation cheer championship earlier this month to earn a berth at the state championships. It was the school’s second consecutive KIF cheer title.
Info from Hawaii High School Athletic Association.
Full results
Medium division: 1. Sacred Hearts, ILH, 513.25; 2. Baldwin, MIL, 507.50; 3. Waimea, KIF, 491.00; 4. Lahainaluna, MIL, 477.25; 5. Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama, ILH, 472.00; 6. Kaiser, OIA, 458.50; 7. Leilehua, OIA, 448.25; 8. Aiea, OIA, 437.75; 9. Kailua, OIA, 432.00; 10. Waiakea, BIIF, 424.25; 11. Pearl City, OIA, 406.00; 12. Kealakehe, BIIF, 396.25; 13. Kamehameha Schools-Hawaii, BIIF, 394.25
Large division: 1. Moanalua, OIA, 520.50; 2. Mililani, OIA, 511.25; 3. Punahou, ILH, 477.50; 4. Kapolei, OIA, 421.00; 5. Castle, OIA, 388.75
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
