Posted on: Sunday, June 20, 2004

Radford's Broadwater picked as state's top cheerleader

By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Kamehameha won one, Radford captured two, and Baldwin took home its first.

With all the national cheerleading championships Hawai'i high schools are bringing home, it's no surprise that the level of cheerleading in the state is rising.

And it is showing in the individuals, too.

"I think a lot has to do with a lot of the teams traveling to the Mainland and competing nationally. You come back with the experience and take some things from other Mainland programs," Radford coach Bo Frank said.

"You develop your program and the other programs have to keep up with you. In the long run, it benefits the state."

Eighteen cheerleaders were selected to the All-State first team, highlighted by Most Valuable Cheerleader, junior Brittiany Broadwater of Radford.

Broadwater won the varsity individual national championship at the AmeriCheer National Cheerleading Championships in March, the same competition in which Radford won the small coed varsity division (30 or fewer with at least 2-4 males) and the novice varsity mount, and Baldwin won the small varsity division.

Kamehameha won its National High School Cheerleading Championships title in February.

The All-State team was selected by the board of the Hawai'i State Cheerleading Coaches Association, which includes Radford's Frank, Mililani's Alex Obra, Baldwin's JoAnn Yap, Pac-Five's Faye Aki and former Kamehameha coach Dolly Wong, who was named Coach of the Year.

All-State selections were based on videotape auditions, where the cheerleaders were judged in four categories: tumbling, jumps, stunts and chant. The girls also were judged on dancing.

"There's always a good jumper or a good stunter on a team," Franks said. "The people on the first team have to have the full package; in all the categories you have to have the full package."

The cheerleaders were judged on a point system, and the highest scoring in each of the three positions: base, flyer, and back base, were selected to the first team.

Frank said the judges looked at factors such as the hardest jump, including multiple jumps, showmanship, voice, and how sharp the cheerleaders' motions were.

Kamehameha, which won the HHSAA/Zippy's State Cheerleading Championship large division in March, led the way with six selections to the first team, including Shawna Lee, the recipient of the state's Senior Scholar-Athlete Award.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.