Moanalua, Radford near flawless at state cheerleading
Nov. 8—They're neighbors and, in 2023, state champions.
Moanalua rode an athletic, flawless performance from start to finish to defend its All-Girls Division title at the Zippy's /HHSAA Cheerleading State Championships on Monday night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
They're neighbors and, in 2023, state champions.
Moanalua rode an athletic, flawless performance from start to finish to defend its All-Girls Division title at the Zippy's /HHSAA Cheerleading State Championships on Monday night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Na Menehune led the division with 45.333 points, followed by Sacred Hearts (43.650 ), Mililani (42.217 ), 'Iolani (41.783 ) and Waipahu (38.950 ).
Radford rebounded from last year's runner-up finish with an explosive performance that brought the house down. The Rams scored 46.483 points to win the Co-ed Division state title. This makes it 13 state championships in all, including 12 under longtime coach Bo Frank.
"That was an A-minus. We can always do better, but I feel awesome. I'm happy. Our goal was to get that elusive 13th (title ), " Frank said. "We set a new high score, so we're happy. Everybody stepped up. We had goals. We met yesterday after OIAs on Saturday and we cleaned up things. We challenged them to gain a couple more points and we did that."
Junior Saxoni Frank, the coach's son who has interest from 23 colleges and will decide between Ohio State and Purdue, pulled off a rarity : a round-off backhand spring that coach Frank called a "full full." It's a rarely done series of incredible flips and twists.
Though Radford and Moanalua are technically in different divisions, the camaraderie between coaches is real.
"We're right down the road from each other. We're close to each other. We're always going to push and they are, too, " Frank said.
For Saxoni Frank, winning a state title washes away the pain of last year's second-place finish to 'Iolani.
"It feels much better. We didn't have much worries this time. I feel like we had a lot of worries last time. We just flushed it all away and we were good this year, " he said. "We lost two good flyers who graduated, but everyone's got some strength."
Members of Radford's state-title squad along with Frank : Skylly Paulo, Zyon Telles-Kuwahara, Kendall Henningsen, Rikki Kalawaia-Viernes, Makaylah Anderson, Nayah Galicinao, Kirstin Gilkey, Emma Hood and Keegan Kloster.
Pac-Five placed second with 40.983 points, followed by Hilo (40.533 ), Maui (40.100 ), Kapaa (36.967 ) and McKinley (35.400 ).
Moanalua secured its ninth state title, including the last three under coach Kaycee Kealoha (2018, '21, '23 ).
"It's definitely different from the other ones. We had a really hard season. Every competition wasn't perfect. It wasn't our best and we really had to fight through all of those problems, " Kealoha said.
Members of Moanalua's state title team : Haylie Bajet, Misty Griffith, Reanna Villanueva, Rhyan Okamoto, Cayla Ann Catekista, Jewelia Madriaga, Janessa Faraon, Sophia Hill, Emma Campagna and Isabella Honda.
The degree of difficulty—precision, athleticism and toughness—was at another level for Moanalua.
"These girls worked really, really hard from the moment that we get them in the summer time, all the way to the very last day, " Kealoha said. "Yesterday, we had an eight-hour practice, making any necessary changes we needed for today."
Next up, Radford will head to the NCA Best of the Best national championships in Dallas to defend its title.
GIRLS DIVISION II STATE VOLLEYBALL Maui Prep 3, Waipahu 2 Avery Kirkham had 14 kills, Lauren Brown added 13, and Ashley Davis put up 32 assists as the Owls defeated the Marauders 16-25, 26-24, 24-26, 25-23, 16-14 Tuesday at Kalani gym in the first round of the New City Nissan /HHSAA Division II Girls State Championships.
Maui Prep will play top-seeded Mid-Pacific at 7 p.m. today at Kalani in a quarterfinal match.
Shaeniah La Fountain had 17 kills and 15 assists for Waipahu.
Hawaii Baptist 3, Kapaa 0 Marisa Nakata had 18 kills and 11 digs, Caitlin Wong added 13 kills and Leina Chu had 31 assists as the Eagles swept the Warriors 25-17, 25-14, 25-18 at Kalani.
Hawaii Baptist will play fourth-seeded Hawaii Prep at 5 p.m. at Kalani today.
Damien 3, Kau 1 Three players had double-digit kills and Kenna Wengler had 46 assists as the Monarchs defeated the Trojans 25-14, 25-12, 19-25, 25-15 at Kaimuki.
Kelia Kalama-Bajet had 16 kills, Kiana Cueto had 15 kills and 11 digs and Kody Wengler finished with 13 kills and 13 digs for Damien, which plays Waialua today at 5 p.m. at Kaimuki.
University 3, Konawaena 0 Miliana Sylvester put down 13 kills and Mayah Nakasato put up 25 assists as the Junior Rainbows swept the Wildcats 25-11, 25-17, 25-10 at Kaimuki.
ULS plays Seabury at 7 p.m. today at Kaimuki.
