Local cheer squads ready for state meet
IMPERIAL VALLEY – Three local varsity high school cheer teams – the Imperial High School Tigers, Brawley Union High School (BUHS) Wildcats, and Central Union High School Spartans – are preparing to compete in the 2023 CIF Southern California State Regional Invitational Cheer Championships.
Since the 2022 CIF San Diego Section Traditional Competitive Cheerleading Championship in early December, the local squads have had an estimated eight weeks to perfect, rework, and enhance routines in preparation for the state competition.
The road to state is different for each cheer squad. For the Brawley Wildcats that meant focusing on repetitions and conditioning, Wildcats Head Cheer Coach Meg Mortimer said.
“We needed to improve our confidence and stamina within our routine, and build consistency to correct some of the mistakes we had at sectionals,” Mortimer said.
The Wildcats competed in the Division I-Advanced during the CIF SDS meet and secured a first place finish to earn a spot in the state meet.
Like most teams, the Wildcats found themselves looking for ways to improve and challenge themselves.
“(This weekend) we are looking forward to hopefully hitting a solid routine with zero deductions,” Mortimer said. “This is the most difficult routine BUHS has ever put on the floor, so no matter the outcome, we are beyond proud of this team.”
The Wildcats will be competing in the Varsity Co-ed division, and are excited to see everyone compete, especially our local valley teams, Mortimer said.
The Spartans – who had zero deductions and placed second in the Small Varsity Non-Tumbling division of the CIF SDS competition – have been preparing with long practices and team-building activities, said Spartan Briseis Montero.
“After we finished the (CIF SDS) competition we were just proud,” said Spartan Alexis Gongora,
“and hopefully, we can carry that energy into state.”
“It’s a positive environment when we come to practice,” Gongora said. “We take it step-by-step and work on one skill at a time and move forward from skill to skill.”
The Spartans will continue to compete in the Small Varsity Non-Tumbling division in the state meet and have upgraded their routine with new skills to strengthen their 2-minute, 30-second routine.
“We did well on working as a team in December,” Montero said. “Chemistry is really important because if that is not there it’s not going to work, so we are making sure to talk to each other and, overall, be positive.”
In a sport where team cohesiveness is a defining characteristic of success, the Imperial Tigers have worked hard to adapt to the unforeseeable circumstance of losing three athletes.
“Getting ready for this competition has been quite a journey due to multiple reasons beginning with we had to replace 3 of our athletes,”
Tigers Head Coach Jennica Fisher said.
Cheer is unlike any other sport, Fisher said, whereas replacing someone in cheer is considerably more difficult in that not finding the right person who knows what they are doing could be very unsafe.
Previously, the Tigers won first place and outscored divisional opponents by a 20-point margin.
“It has been difficult, but the kids have worked very hard and pushed through to make it work,” Fisher said.
We have been focusing on putting more energy
into our cheer section,” she said. “We have also spent a lot of time cleaning up the entire routine, (making) tight motions, (having) clean transitions, locked-out legs in stunts, etcetera.”
The Tigers will compete in the CO-Ed Non-tumbling division this weekend.
The local teams will hit the mat at the CIF Southern California State Regional Invitational Cheer Championships at 9 a.m. on Saturday, January 28, at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, California.