FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kathleen Constantino and Nichole Longboy cheered with the Kauai squad at yesterday's Local Motion State Championships.
A state title is usually the springboard to the right to compete for a national title. Last night, however, the Kamehameha cheering squad arrived at the Stan Sheriff Center with a national championship already in tow and managed to hold off Radford and Baldwin to capture the Hawaii state large division title by a slim 3.5-point margin. Kamehameha, Moanalua
are cheer championsBy Marc Dixon
mdixon@starbulletin.com
The Warriors used precision, a clean routine and a new and improved ending to their national championship routine to hold off second-place Radford. The OIA co-champion Rams scored better than the Warriors on one judge's card and tied them on another. No other squad came within five points of the Warriors on any judge's card.
Final scores HHSAA Cheerleading
Large division: 1. Kamehameha 271; 2. Radford 267.5; 3. Baldwin 249; 4. Waiakea 194; 5. Kapolei 180.5; 6. Mililani 180; 7. Iolani 179.5; 8t. St. Joseph 164; 8t. Pearl City 164.
Medium division: 1. Moanalua 259.5; 2. Aiea 229.5; 3. Punahou 203.5; 4. Kauai 200; 5. Waipahu 188; 6. Maui 185; 7. Hilo 171.5; 8. Kailua 171; 9. Kaimuki 165.
But after totaling the scores, the judges came away more impressed with the unified crispness of Kamehameha over the athleticism, flash and flair of the Rams.
"I knew it was going to be close," said Kamehameha coach Dolly Wong. "There are so many good squads here like Radford and Baldwin and they all did the best that they could do. But I had confidence in our girls. They hit a hard routine and they did it well."
The clincher, according to Wong, may have been the "tweaked" ending. Kamehameha added a load, reload single-base stunt and full-ups on each side of the formation as a finisher. The combination pushed last night's performance ahead of the one that the Warriors used in Orlando, Fla., Wong said.
"To do that at the end of a full routine is very, very difficult," said Wong. "It takes a lot just to do at all, and then add in the fatigue that is there at the end of a routine, it makes it that much harder."
Kamehameha added the ending as a testament to the level of competition they knew they would face in Hawaii. According to Kamehameha co-captain Summer Maunakea, the stress level last night for the Warrior team was much higher than on the mainland due to more knowledge of their competition and increased notoriety.
"The teams here are really good and everyone was looking at us coming in because of the nationals," said Maunakea. "And here, everyone knows us. Up there we were the underdogs. No one knew us, so we just went out there and did it. Tonight we were nervous."
Kamehameha totaled 271 points, Radford scored 267.5, and Baldwin took third with 249.
The Moanalua Menehunes won the medium division with a score of 259.5, 30 points better than second-place Aiea.
"Moanalua has always been about clean, executed, sharp routines," said Menehune coach Sherrie Faldo. "And we worked really hard this year to improve from our third-place finish last year. This is a dream come true for my girls."
While Moanalua's victory margin was wider than Kamehameha's, the stress level was comparable.
"It's pretty hectic," said Faldo. "In basketball, there are other quarters to make up for mistakes. In cheering you're just out there for two-and-a-half minutes and it's hit or miss. There's no make-up period."
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