The Seward cheerleading squad took first in Division II, while Kenai Central was second, on March 20 at the March Madness Alaska state cheerleading competition at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.
“We’re generally pretty supportive of each other, and obviously we’re both passionate about cheerleading and the students involved,” Seward coach Haley Hatch said of her relationship with Kenai coach Brianna Force. “We’d also both love to see the sport grow.
“It’s neat that two peninsula schools took first and second at state.”
Force said the squads got to know each other well at the Southcentral Conference basketball tournament.
“It was great to see the athletes build camaraderie and friendship with another local team,” Force wrote in an email.
For Seward, it was the first state cheerleading title since 2006, which also happens to be the year Hatch graduated from Seward High School.
Hatch and assistant Rebekah Ivy, a 2003 graduate of Seward, have been bringing squads to state for the past six years, with the exception of last year. Hatch has been the head coach for the past three years.
The Seward squad had four members this season, also the number of members on the 2006 title squad. There is no minimum number of cheerleaders required.
Senior Emilia Whitcomb cheered at state for the Seahawks as a freshman and sophomore, but the other three members were all new to cheerleading. Those members are junior Kyrsten Johnson-Gray, freshman Gaia Casagranda and senior Jessica Batubara, an exchange student from Indonesia.
Hatch said the team overcame inexperience to be state champion by working hard for two hours at practice each day.
“Rebekah and I asked them what kind of team they wanted to be, what goals they wanted to accomplish,” Hatch said. “Rebekah and I are always pushing them toward a competitive level, but ultimately it’s up to them what they want to do.
“They were interested in becoming a competitive cheerleading team so we took it seriously, conditioned hard and tried different stunts.”
Hatch and Ivy don’t have a background in tumbling, so several community members came in to help.
What also helped is the Southcentral Conference basketball tournament was in Seward this season. There hadn’t been a cheerleading competition at the conference level in some time, but Kenai, Anchorage Christian Schools and Homer agreed with Seward to do a competition at conference.
Kenai won at the conference tournament, while Seward finished second, but Hatch said the Seahawks gained valuable experience. In the regular season, Seward’s cheer squad was only in the gym with another cheer squad twice, and those two occasions came in the final two weeks of the season.
“It was nice to get a chance to see what other squads were bringing forward,” Hatch said.
Kenai had won the state title for small squads last year, but this year featured a new format called game day competition. There were nine schools at Division II, schools with 500 students or less, and nine schools at Division I. Hatch said her squad would end up with the highest overall score out of both divisions.
The game day competition is 60 percent sideline cheers, timeout cheers and situation cheers that the squads used during the season. The other 40 percent is a halftime routine that is 2.5 minutes.
“I love how this event unites cheerleaders from all over the state and gives them the opportunity to showcase their talent,” Force wrote.
Hatch said the environment was electric, with cheer squads from around the state chanting out the required school colors and initials during each team’s cheers.
Force also was happy with the way her team’s hard work paid off during the competition.
“I am very proud of the performance that the Kenai cheerleaders executed,” Force wrote. “We had a few stumbles in our routine but they pushed through and overcame each one, and finished on a strong note.
“In the end, all of their hard work and dedication throughout the season paid off.”
Kenai’s squad had 10 members, three returning from the state-winning team last season and six also having cheered for football this fall.
The squad consisted of senior Hannah Olson, juniors Sirinda Rongsakul, Keelin McGraw, Morgan Mallory and Samuel Ward, and sophomores Nia Calvert, Arielle Hamar, Karley Harden, Rileigh Pace and Valerie Brophy. Tavia Wilson is the assistant coach.
Both Hatch and Force are excited to see the sport grow.
“We’ve been encouraging other schools to come out and try it,” Hatch said. “We’d love for higher numbers and to increase the visibility of the sport. These athletes work really hard. It’s not all necessarily pompoms and megaphones.”
