Image from Cheer coach
Top: Jackie with the team holding their second place trophy at the Cheer team’s first competition
2023 marks the first year that the Cheerleading team of Washington High School competes in competition under the current coach. The competition team consists of all of Varsity and three JV members. The first competition that marked the start of comp season was the USA Northern California Regional on November 4, 2023 and it took place at Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills. The competition team has been working on their routine since the beginning of practice, which started in the beginning of summer 2023. They lost people and had to deal with an abundance of last minute changes, but came out with 2nd place in their division.
Sophomore Camie Morgan talks about the excitement she felt competing, as it’s her first year on cheer, let alone Varsity. She also “was very nervous and intimidated by the other cheerleaders there.” Intimidation is a huge obstacle to get over, as it was the teams first time at a competition and is immensely different than a football game. In football games, no one truly paid attention to the Cheerleaders, but in a cheer competition, everyone is watching and judging the routine. As cheer’s comp season goes on, Camie hopes that the team gets closer, resulting in a fully cohesive team.
Co-Captain Kally Zahirniak, a senior at WHS, talks about the pride she feels “to lead [the] team into a new positive experience.” Zahirniak leads the team along with seniors Arshia Sharma and Josie Roberts. “We didn’t win, but we completed our routine with minimal faults and everything went according to plan,” Kally says, proud of the work her team has done. She hopes for her team to get a better overall score. The team was only 5 points away from the points required to qualify for nationals. Kally truly believes that they can achieve this goal with more practice and determination.
This was a huge event for the team, as Covid restricted the team from competing previously. Everyone on the team had never experienced competing at a Cheerleading competition. The routine was a fast-paced, three minute routine to a remix of a few different Taylor Swift songs. It included two dances, a cheer, and three stunt sequences including transitions to result in a cohesive performance. The competition for the cheerleaders was a huge learning experience. Now, they know how a competition works, how other teams perform and how they can grasp victory.
Hanya Hussain is a senior at Washington High School. She was born in Hayward, but has lived in Fremont all her life. This is her first year at the paper and she's really excited to participate in the Hatchet. She's interested in writing about other people and their perspectives in life. She is a cheerleader and loves to hang out with her friends in her free time. She also likes to take walks and go on hikes whenever she can. In college, she wants to study criminal justice.