LIHU‘E — Three in a row isn’t bad at all, but three out of four is even better. The Kaua‘i High School cheer squad captured its third straight KIF Cheerleading title yesterday at its home floor. Waimea walked away with
LIHU‘E — Three in a row isn’t bad at all, but three out of four is even better. The Kaua‘i High School cheer squad captured its third straight KIF Cheerleading title yesterday at its home floor. Waimea walked away with the second-place trophy and Kapa‘a finished in third-place. The Red Raiders head to the HHSAA/Zippy’s State Cheerleading Champion-ships on Sunday, March 13 at the Stan Sheriff Center on the campus of the University of Hawai‘i. Kaua‘i finished fourth in the medium division in 2003 and fifth in the large division last year.
Since its inception in 2002, Kaua‘i has been able to dominate the three-team field with three out of the four championship banners painted red. Waimea won the inaugural competition in 2002.
“This year’s team preparing for competition had to have been the hardest one of all because we started with this routine last Saturday, but the kids as a whole have been very focused,” Kaua‘i head cheerleading coach Carrie Naka‘ahiki-Young said.
But according to the Red Raider coach, this year’s squad was more than just smiles and pom poms.
“They’re like a family and I remind them every time that it’s not how many hours we practice, but it’s what you put into the hours and the most important thing I stressed for them is to be humble,” Naka‘ahiki-Young said.
KIF all-stars were also recognized at competition with two squads, honorable mention and first-team. Kaua‘i swept both categories with Nichole Longboy, Keelie Firestone, Kyra Canales, and Rylan Chow rounding up the honorable mention squad.
Kathleen Constantino, Holly Shimazu, Brian Rodriguez, and Kim Carillo were the first-teamers.
The Surf’s (95.9) morning personality, Shel Cobb was the emcee for the event. Lauryn Duterte, Ivan Kuapahi, Preston Ramson, and Jazmine Suniga sang the -National Anthem and Hawai‘i Pono‘i. Squads performed one routine incorporating cheer and dance, which couldn’t exceed two minutes and thirty seconds. The music portion of the routine couldn’t exceed one minute and thirty seconds. The cheer/chant portion lasted around 35 seconds. This year, the HHSAA will be using a new scoring system called the Target Point System, which was used by the KIF. The judges panel included Kellie Mikami (former UH-Manoa head cheer coach), Justin Davis (UH-Manoa), Kelly Calistro (former Moanalua cheer coach), Dolly Wong (Kamehameha-O‘ahu), Dawna Chai (UH-Manoa), Tina Kuribayashi (UH-Manoa), and Christine Alexander.
Seniors were also recognized towards the end of the program. Holly Shimazu, Angela Semana, Jon Rojas, Ivan Kuapahi, Brian Rodriguez, Pat Kua, Jason Glovasa, and Chad Lopes for Kaua‘i and Resha Banasihan, Chantel Briones, and Eric Oroc for Waimea were honored at the ceremony.
So do the Red Raiders stand a chance at the 2005 HHSAA/Zippy’s State Cheerleading Championships? “I’m hoping we get at least third; we’d love to be first, but third would be fine for us,” Naka‘ahiki-Young said.
