Red Raiders cheer squad edges past Menehune

WAIMEA — Kauai High School cheer, under the leadership of Coach Carrie Nakaahiki-Young, will be representing the Kauai Interscholastic Federation Nov. 14 at the Blaisdell Center on Oahu during the Zippy’s Hawaii High School Athletic Association state championships.

The Red Raider cheer squad, comprised of eight of its show performers, including KIF all stars Kaena Kaohelaulii, Kaisa Ishikawa and Torrie Hasegawa, earned the right Saturday by winning the KIF cheer competition by 13 points over Waimea High School and Kapaa High School.

“It comes down to just 2 1/2 minutes,” said Joyce Evens, a former Waimea cheer coach. “The boys and girls practice for months, work during a lot of the KIF games, including football and volleyball, and their hard work boils down to the final 150-second performance.”

Kauai High School cheer topped the KIF competition with 318 points to the Menehune’s 305 points. Kapaa rounded out the field with 196 points during the abbreviated presentations which allowed the young people to enjoy their Halloween.

“They just had to carry each other,” Nakaahiki-Young said. “We worked through this for eight months, and had our ups and downs. It was hard because a lot of the performers were involved in other sports. But I told them, ‘Be proud, not prideful; be humble, not vain.’ We stressed faith and doubt: You can’t have both in mind at the same time — just have faith.”

Joining Kaohelaulii, Ishikawa and Hasegawa as KIF cheer all stars, Kapaa sent Daena Macugay, Jake De Peralta, Darlyn Dela Cruz and Emily Cruz to join Waimea cheer members Mark Perpose, Shayne Simbre-Medeiros, Kaylee Ragudo, Keiki Martin and Genessa Jardin to collect their respective KIF all star medals.