HondaReport.com - Cheerleading: Radford rules OIA Championships again

Cheerleading: Radford rules OIA Championships again

'Aiea and Mililani were among the teams that brought some explosiveness to the OIA Cheerleading Championships, but defending champion Radford prevailed Monday night.

HONOLULU—For the best team in the O’ahu Interscholastic Association cheerleading championships, victory is sweet—and passing.

Radford, the defending league champion, amassed 290 points to easily outdistance 11 competitors Monday night at James Alegre Gymnasium, on the Rams’ campus.

‘Aiea placed second with 270 points. Mililani came in third with 265. Of the 12 entries, eight qualified for the state championships: Radford, ‘Aiea, Mililani, Moanalua, Kapolei, Leilehua, Kaiser and Pearl City.

“Each competition is just a step toward our goal,” said head coach Bo Frank, who was ecstatic about the convincing victory, right? “No. I’ve seen them do it better before. We had some bobbles. They do a really good job of not letting little mistakes turn into problems.”

“We have a lot to clean up,” Frank said. Now in his fourth year at the helm, he has guided the Rams to a national title. They finished second to Kamehameha last year. Don't expect the Rams to soften up their routine to minimize risk.

"My style is to leave everything on the floor," Frank said. "If I could have my team as clean as (Kamehameha), we'd be fine."

The Warriors won a second-consecutive national title recently. “They were the UCA national champions. We’re aware of them. For them to do what they do means they’re at least as good as last year,” Frank said. “We’re at about the same place (as last year).”

For co-team captain Charlie Okada, Monday’s title win was double the fun. She turned 18. “We were nervous. You never know what can happen,” she said. “We stayed with what we’re comfortable with.”

The athletic Rams, the final team to perform, displayed the most explosive routine in the competition. Okada is among the Rams who have been there since day one of Frank’s head coaching career. That makes this year very significant for the seniors.

“A lot of the team is graduating or moving away soon,” said co-team captain Brittiany Broadwater, who is a junior. “This is more sentimental.”

A packed house at Radford did nothing to faze the Rams. “We tried to pay attention to what judges at other competitions said,” Broadwater said.

For other teams, like Leilehua, qualifying for states is nothing less than exciting. “They met my expectations. Some of them exceeded my expectations,” Leilehua head coach Darcy Yukumoto said. “They pulled it out of I don’t know where.”

Moanalua won the junior varsity competition with 263 points. Waipahu placed second with 255 points, followed by Castle, which earned 242. Ten teams competed in the JV event.