Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 3, 1 March 2003 — Cheers to Kamehameha! [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Cheers to Kamehameha!

Ohompiona In aeHon — Exuberant Eml Manuka files htgh In a basket toss stunt executed wttb her fellow varsfty squad members at a Warrlors game at tbe Kapōlama campus. Foreground, junlor varstty cheerfeader U'l Stender cheers the team on.

The Kamehameha Varsity Blue cheerleaders out tumbled, stunted, danced and cheered their way past the nation's top cheer athletes to grab a first plaee finish at the National High School Cheerleading Championship held at Walt Disney's Wide Worid of Sports in Orlando, Florida on Feb. 9. This is the first time that a team from Hawai'i won first plaee in the cbeerleading '01ympics' event featured in the Hollywood film "Bring It On." More than 5,000 cheerleaders representing 48 states in various divisions pitted their athletic skills combining gymnastics and dance. The 12-member all-girl KS team competed in the Small Varsity Division that included 63 otber squads from across the nation — all regional winners in their own right. Eaeh finalist squad advanced through preliminary and semi-final competition before earning a spot in the finals competition. ESPN will broadcast the competition finals on a date and time yet to be announced. Music in Kamehameha's winning routine featured the Kamehameha Schools Children's Choir from the Disney movie "Lilo & Stitch" soundtrack released last year. "Our music was definitely an inspiration to the team this year," said head cheer eoaeh Dolly Wong. "It gave the girls a sense of strength, spirit and family — everything they needed to rise to the intense competition level they faced." '93 KS graduate and assistant cheer eoaeh Melissa Beimes said that the experience recalled her own experiences competing on the mainland. Is competition between teams as fierce as depicted in "Bring It On?" Beimes, who also works as secretary for OHA Trustee Boyd Mossman, smiles. "It really is. No one says anything, but you ean feel the eyes on you. Everybody's checking eaeh other's moves out." / mua Kamehameha! ■