The state cheerleading competition took place on Febuary 1st and 2nd. Renton High School’s cheer team won 1st place in the stomp category and 3rd place for the “game day” category.

The competition continued for 2 days because so many teams qualified. The scoring was on a scale of 100 and in order to qualify for state, the team had to score at least a 65 on the scale.

Renton cheered hard and ended up scoring an 82 to qualify for state. At the state competition they scored a whopping 90.5 on the 100 scale. The scoring was based on the sharpness of the cheers, crowd appeal, as well as the execution of their jumps and stunts.

There are many technical rules that could deduct points from a score. For example, judges deduct points for exceeding the three-minute time limit; they could also deduct points for stepping on a pom-pom for someone else’s foot. They also had to be cautious about song lyrics and wording of cheers because they are not allowed to say anything that could be considered disrespectful or offensive to the other teams.

“Overall it was really fun. It was humbling to see that we had so many people supporting us. This experience also grew our team closer together and it was a great bonding experience for us.”

Sadara Smith explained, “ On our time off we would just have fun by having dance battles with one another and cheer-offs. We would also tell each other funny stories that led to some good inside jokes that we now share. This experience overall taught me a lot about what it means to be a team and that hard work really pays off.”

Cheerleading is a fun but intensive sport that creates strong bonds between the cheerleaders and all of the coaches and supporting people that come along with it. Although it can be intimidating to have all the eyes on cheerleaders all the time, it is an empowering sport that allows young people to connect and spread positivity.