Baldwin cheer wins MIL
Kamehameha Maui third
Photo by Riann Fujihara
Baldwin High School’s varsity cheerleading team breaks KSM’s 5-year winning streak at the Maui Interscholastic League Championships, Saturday, Oct. 29, at Maui High School.
The Baldwin High School varsity and junior varsity teams cheered their way to first place, Saturday, Oct. 29 at Maui High School.
Baldwin took back the Maui Interscholastic League cheerleading championship for the first time since 2010, in which Kamehameha Schools Maui started their 5-year winning streak the following year.
The Bears scored 400.50 out of 480 possible points for Saturday’s win.
“I think we did really good although we were under a lot of pressure, we all came together and pushed as hard as we could, and the results showed how good we did,” varsity Baldwin cheerleader Sadie Ansai said.
The Baldwin High School routine had a good combination of stunts, tumbling, baskets, pyramids, and many other things that made it complicated and difficult to pull off. The size of the varsity squad also made it easier for them to utilize all of the the floor space.
According to former KSM cheerleading coach, Kealiʻi Molina, the Bears performed well for their first year with him despite the fact that it was a different experience. He also said that the Bears were motivated to do this routine because last year they came in fourth place and “having that fire turned on” was a big part of it.
Maui High took second place with 366.25 points, the Warriors placed third with 355.25 points, and Lahainaluna came in fourth with 321.75 points.
Maui High started off their routine differently. Instead of starting off with a full cheer and their full routine, they started off with half of their routine, went into their full cheer and then back into their dance routine. With a lot of attitude and stunts, they added the element of surprise within the way everything was put together.
Kamehameha Maui’s varsity cheerleading squad strikes a pose at the end of their routine.
Kamehameha Maui had a simple routine will little flying and stunting but they made use of all of the floor space and did a great job with lines, timing, and synchronization in their performance.
Lahainaluna started with a simple cheer and did considerably well with the small team that they had. They dropped the pyramid that they formed during the second to the last stunt, but they caught it and recovered.
Before the varsity competition, Maui High, Baldwin, and Kamehameha’s junior varsity teams performed, with Kamehameha participating for exhibition only. Maui High placed second to Baldwin.
The Warriors were slightly disappointed after discovering that they got the third place spot, but they knew that they tried their best under the given circumstances.
“I feel like this year we lost a lot of people, so we’re like trying to get in a new feel. We have a lot of new members and stuff but it’s good for us ’cause we became closer as a team, bonding and picking each other up after everything. So, yeah, I think next year is going to be better,” said Lexi Mae Pruse, sophomore varsity cheerleader.
Prior to the MIL championship, two out of five of KS Maui’s JV cheerleaders had become sick, so they needed to change their routine at the last minute, so they did not enter the competition and performed only for the experience.
“All we wanted was for our varsity team to hit and stick everything and go out and have fun, and that’s exactly what they did,” Kamehameha coach Ann Saffery said.
As the Bears advance to the Zippy’s Cheerleading 2016 Championships on Saturday, Nov. 19, at Blaisdell Arena, the Warriors will use this year to re-build their foundation and come back stronger next year.
