By Kiana Caranto
[email protected]
Throughout their journey this season, the MHS varsity cheerleading team has encountered many physical injuries, but the team was able persevere and ended up taking fourth place in the Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) Cheerleading Championship on Nov. 17 at the Neil Blaisdell Center.
“The hardest part would be all the injuries that happened and having to change the routine so many times, but we just worked really hard,” explained Senior Toni Mitsumoto, continuing, “We always overcame those.”
Much training on part of the cheerleaders went into this event. “We practiced every single day for about three hours. Worked on different areas of jumps, stunts, tumbling, dance, sequence, inversions,” stated head coach Renesha Kierstedt.
These preparations led to a successful outcome that the team was satisfied with. “I was so happy, like through all that we’ve been through and all the hard work that was put into it. We did outstanding,” said Mistsumoto. Kierstedt added, “The varsity team took fourth. They tied for third and when there was a tie-breaker they took fourth.”
Since cheer is a contact sport, the team was bound to come across bumps in the road; two cheerleaders were out due to concussions. “We had two people get injured. Everyone has an ailment … or an injury, whether it’s from ankle to back to wrist to ribs,” said Kierstedt.
Because of these damages the team was required to change their routine during the week of Nov. 12 to 16, right before the competition. “We had to change some of our routine just so that we could keep up with the other private schools,” said Senior Taylor Onizuka.
Though the team was faced with these obstacles, they were able to maintain each other’s mental standings through support. “We just supported each other and basically pushed each other to new challenges. We just made sure that everyone was as confident was they could be,” explained Mitsumoto.
This support has caused the cheerleaders to grow close to each other, and they will carry this support on to nationals, which will be held during February in Las Vegas, Nev.
