[ HIGH SCHOOL CHEERLEADING ]
Radford, Baldwin are
tops in nation
Radford is the best in the nation again in cheerleading.
And so is Baldwin
The Rams won their division (small coed varsity) for the second year in a row at the AmeriCheer nationals in Orlando last night.
This time, however, they were also named grand champion. That means they outperformed all other squads in all divisions at the event, which showcased more than 100 teams.
The Bears captured the small varsity mount division, while another Radford team (the Rams' white squad) took the novice division title.
"We've won back-to-back national championships," Radford coach Bo Frank said.
"I was really nervous this time, but they (the Rams) were so clean and our tumbling was so strong. Another coach asked me if there was gravity in Hawaii and was surprised when I said, 'yes' because of the way our kids tumbled."
Earlier in the week, Broadwater won the varsity individual national championship.
"All three teams who entered won and we had the best individual, too," Frank said.
"It was a clean sweep and it just shows you the caliber of cheerleading we have in Hawaii. (State champion) Kamehameha is also a national champion (in the Universal Cheerleading Association)."
The Radford novice team is coached by Jackie Bolton.
Baldwin's mount squad is coached by JoAnn Yap and assistant Ann Saffery.
"They (the Bears) showed tonight that we truly are Maui's best and Hawaii's best. Hawaii rocked the house here," said Yap, whose team has won three straight Maui Interscholastic League titles.
"Every Hawaii team that was entered won. We put Hawaii on the map again."
