The Radford and Moanalua cheerleading teams benefited from snap decisions on their way to state titles at Blaisdell Center on Saturday.
Of the 30 teams that performed at the Blaisdell, the best was truly saved for last, as Na Menehune and the Rams were the last two teams to compete. Moanalua picked up the large division championship (12 members or more), while Radford won the medium division (11 members maximum).
Moanalua coach Blossom Caballero was excited to send her seniors off with a championship.
"I just had a really solid foundation of kids," Caballero said. "Half of my team is seniors, so they’ve been going through the whole four years and this team just clicked."
Winning at states was icing on the cake for Moanalua, which won the OIA championship the week before. It was a long time coming for Na Menehune, who haven’t won in 10 years.
Caballero knew that something special would come out of harnessing her team’s potential.
"The talent on this team individually was out of this world, something that I’ve never seen before," Cabarello said. "It just so happened that they meshed well — everything just worked in our favor."
However, things almost went south for Moanalua. Caballero decided to change parts of the team’s routine the night before, forcing her players to learn on the fly.
"We’ve been through a lot this season, even as far as going up to changing the routine last night," Caballero said. "They’ve been through ups and downs, so it’s an incredible feeling."
For Moanalua, it wasn’t the first time it has had to adjust, and it showed. Na Menehune posted a score of 343.75.
"Things happen all the time … ," said senior co-captain Sophia Bradbury. "We’ve had injuries. I was injured for two weeks and I’m still injured. "You just learn to overcome it. If the dream is strong, then nothing can come in the way of that."
The medium division saw a larger and tighter race. After the 13 teams competed, the decision came down to Kamehameha-Maui and Radford.
A tense moment in the Blaisdell started with the announcement that the difference between the first- and second-place teams was 0.25 points. After a brief moment of stillness across the arena, it was Radford that came out on top.
Kamehameha-Maui coach Kealii Molina was pleased with his team’s performance. The Warriors had executed their routine to near-perfection and looked like they were on their way to a third straight medium division state title.
"They did awesome. All we have to do is go out there and there’s nothing you can really do after that. It’s in the judges’ hands now," said Molina after the team’s performance. "We did our job and we did all we could to try our best to come out on top."
Hearing the decision was equally tough for the team on the other side.
Nichole Francis, senior tri-captain for Radford, could barely contain herself as hearing the fate of the team inched closer.
"My whole body was shaking. I started crying when I heard that because 0.25 could determine the win," Francis said. "Both our team and Kamehameha-Maui were very competitive."
