Another state cheer competition, another co-ed state championship.
The Juneau-Douglas High School basketball cheer team captured their second consecutive co-ed state championship last Wednesday in Anchorage.
However, this year, in addition to the co-ed title, the team earned a second accolade at the state competition: the Grand championship, awarded to the highest-scoring team in all four divisions (non-building, small, large, co-ed).
It was the first time a JDHS basketball cheer squad received the top honor.
The team received high marks for completing all its stunts in unison and without any slip-ups.
“When you have four stunt groups going up there, everyone needs to do their job, everyone has to hit on time and come down at the same time,” JDHS cheer coach Carlene Nore said.
The routine, which runs two and a half minutes, is broken up into a cheer section and the more technically difficult music section.
In the music section, which lasts about one and a half minutes, the team performs its stunts in four different smaller groups. This includes hoisting cheerleaders in the air. Prior to performing last Wednesday, the four teams had difficulty all executing their moves perfectly.
“If one person doesn’t have the right mindset, we all mess up,” JDHS senior Savannah Meketa said. “And so we all worked together and did it, one last time.”
Nore said the team left the Region V tournament unsatisfied.
“Every time it came down to performing, we didn’t do our best,” Nore said. “So we walked away from regions feeling like we weren’t quite as successful as we wanted to be.”
Between regions and state, the team practiced three hours a day, six days a week to improve. By the day of competition, they executed perfectly.
“We all have to hit at the same time and so it’s kind of hard to do that because you’re in four different groups, and we did that, and it was amazing,” Meketa said.
It was a satisfying end to Meketa’s high school cheer career. The senior cheered on a total of nine different squads between the football, basketball and club teams. Normally she’s burnt out by the end of a season. But this season, her last under Nore, was different.
“It’s so different from all the other teams because we love each other like a second family,” Meketa said. “It’s never really been that way before. So I’m pretty sure that’s another reason why we won because we all wanted it and we all love each other.”
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com.
