By Danielle Smith

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A season of newfound friendship and family among team members led the  MHS cheerleaders to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) championships on Nov.15 at the Blaisdell Arena. Competing against 16 other schools, the team scored third place in the last competition of a season.

“The cheerleading team is my second family. I know I can go to them for anything. We’re all really close,” Junior Paige Ahlo said. “The coach is my second mom and they are all my sisters.”

The team spent many hours and dedication preparing for the competition, taking time out of their days to practice their routines. Their efforts proved to pay off as they finished off  the season with a proud achievement. “They’ve reached every goal and beyond,” Head Coach Renesha Kierstedt said. They started off at an average of eight. And every team is scored at the highest level of ten. We’ve already reached the highest goal of cheerleading.”

As was the case with the rest of the season, the team had to overcome several obstacles before the competition. “Although all the obstacles that we went through like the injuries and people getting taken out, we’ve been pushing it really hard.” Senior Jalene Alviar said, “I think this season had the most obstacles due to all the injuries and grade issues.”

However, their problems didn’t prevent the team from striving for perfection. “There’s going to be bumps and bruises and there are going to be things that try to stop you from doing what you wanna do and reaching what you wanna achieve. Either you can let it stop you or you can just bust through it and keep going. And that’s what the girls did,” said Kierstedt.

Although the team felt apprehensive going into the competition, they were able to push through their nerves and perform to the best of their abilities.“It is very stressful because I think the nerves get to us. When we’re at practice, we are all psyching ourselves out,” said Ahlo, “But then we would have these team talks and it’s always been right before every competition. It always turns out great in the competition.”

While the competition was full of positive energy, there was also a sense of farewell that lingered in the air for some team members. “There are seniors on the teams and this will be their last official time competing at high school level,” said Kierstedt. “Every year I’m always emotional because I see these girls go from one level throughout the whole season and they finally end their journey,” Alivar added, “I’m just really happy I was abletrojan

As the season finishes, members leave with not only new experiences and life lessons, but also with a newfound family. “All the cheerleaders, sidelines and competitors, are my family,” said Alivar. “They’re weird and they’re crazy but that just makes it better.”  Ahlo added, “We’d always tell each other that we can do it  and we motivate and believe in each other.”

The Trojan cheerleaders continue to practice and perform their routines at various school events.