Seminole Ridge, C.S. Charter earn titles

CORAL SPRINGS — A broken collarbone in his sophomore year sidelined Seminole Ridge’s Justin Perez permanently.

The senior was a member of the Hawks’ football team at the time, but after the injury he and a fellow senior teammate, Santiago Rojas-Cruz, turned to cheerleading.

The decision paid off for the duo on Friday as they helped the Hawks win the Small Coed Division at the Region 4 championships at Coral Springs High School.

“I thought maybe I should try another sport, and I am so happy with the decision,” Perez said.

Seminole Ridge finished with a score of 82.8 to punch its automatic ticket on Friday to the state championships on Jan. 28-29 in Gainesville.

Finishing second in the Small Non-Tumbling Division was a banged-up and short-handed Coral Springs High squad.

Colts sophomore Heather Little gutted out the competition after rolling her ankle in practice earlier this week. The twotime defending state champion Colts had to rework their routine less than 12 hours before competing because another cheerleader was sidelined with the flu.

“Even if states was tomorrow, I would just wrap it as tight as I can and do all my jumps and push through everything,” said Little, who left the gym on crutches, her ankle heavily bandaged.

Two-time state runnerup and crosstown rival Coral Springs Charter won the Small Non-Tumbling Division with the highest score (83.4) of any division.

Coral Springs Charter coach Emonii Word said the team did well, earning an automatic bid in the 1A division at states.

Teams that finished first or second in their divisions with a 70-point total or higher on their raw score received an automatic bid in the state finals. Teams that scored a minimum of 60 points qualified for the state semifinals.

King’s Academy, which won five state championships in a row from 2010-14, and finished third at regionals last year, won the Medium Non-Tumbling Division over Wellington.

West Boca (Small Varsity) and Jupiter (Medium Varsity) won their respective divisions, while Coral Glades (Extra Large Tumbling), Western (Large Varsity) and Stranahan (Large Non-Tumbling) also won in the competition that featured 43 teams from the tricounty area.