Kamehameha, 'Aiea grab inaugural cheerleader titles

By Leila Wai
Special to The Advertiser

The arena quiets as the team enters and takes its place on the floor, somber and serious with one goal on its mind. The people in the stands sit on the edge of their seats, waiting and watching.

'Aiea captured the large division last night at the state cheerleading championships. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

But not for long, as music blares through the speakers and cheerleaders fly through the air doing acrobatic stunts. And those on the ground entice the audience to get up and yell what is written on their hand-held signs.

In what may be the most competition-friendly atmosphere, where teams are encouraged to — and actually do — cheer for their opponents, the Kamehameha and 'Aiea squads flipped, twirled and cheered their way to championships at the 2002 Local Motion State Cheerleading Championships at the Stan Sheriff Center last night.

Kamehameha beat out Radford and Moanalua in the 13-squad medium division, which is composed of teams of 11 or fewer members.

"I think we delivered and executed all of our stunts very cleanly, and we didn't drop anything. Being clean is our style and I think it made the difference," Warrior coach Dolly Kim said.

The Kamehameha cheerleaders celebrate after they won the medium division. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

"We always use Hawaiian music in our routine and I think that it means a lot to the girls; they can feel it and it almost comes out in how they perform."

Kamehameha's only senior, Michele Kim, said that the squad's hard work and dedication, especially that of the newer members, paid off.

"We have a lot of new people on our squad this year and I think they've just really improved so much and they've done a really good job. I want to see them do a good job next year."

'Aiea placed first ahead of Waiakea and Hilo in the five-squad large division, with 12-18 members.

"It feels great, unbelievable," said Na Ali'i sophomore Tobi Miyashiro. "I think we came together as a team and grew together."

Waimea finished sixth out of 13 teams in the medium division category of the 2002 Local Motion State Cheerleading Championships yesterday. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Each squad performed one 2 1/2-minute routine that included a maximum of 1 1/2 minutes to music and 25-45 seconds of cheer.

A panel of five judges scored teams on elements of their routine such as the precision and variety of their jumps, strong voices with good articulation and volume, and their choreography. There was also a time keeper and safety judge, making sure squads adhered to the rules.

For 20 years the only state cheerleading championship was run by the University of Hawai'i cheerleaders, called the Spirit Challenge. This year, with the backing of the HHSAA, the inaugural state championship took place.

"This is something that teams look forward to, all year they work for this one goal," said Erika Buder-Nakasone, co-coach of the UH cheerleading squad and organizer of the event.

Na Ali'i, the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's No. 2 seed, won their division in the National Cheerleaders Association competition in 1996. The Warriors, who were the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champions, took third in their division at the Universal Cheerleaders Association's national competition last year.

K5 is planning to show a delayed broadcast March 17, at 5 p.m.

Results

Medium Division: 1, Kamehameha (Tiare Camarillo, Kanana Dang, Roelle Ho'ohuli, Giselle Kim, Shawna Lee, Kamaile Malolonado, Emi Manuia, Michelle Kim, Summer Maunakea, Sharde Mersberg, Lehua Watanabe). 2, Radford. 3, Moanalua. 4, Mililani. 5, Pearl City. 6, Waimea. 7, Kaimuki. 8, Punahou. 9, Baldwin. 10, Maui. 11, Campbell. 12, Wai'anae. 13, Kaiser.

Large Division: 1, 'Aiea (Rashauna Vegas, Leanna Larinaga, Janice Suguitan, Korie Chung, Nicole Saito, Jennifer Fujii, Maceio Pinder, Tobi Miyashiro, Candice Abo, Cassandra Olim, Molly Fearn, Shane Galicia). 2, Waiakea. 3, Hilo. 4, Kailua. 5, Kealakehe.