Kamehameha wins 11th straight ILH cheer title


Kamehameha continued its domination of Interscholastic League of Honolulu cheerleading Monday night, winning its 11th straight ILH championship before an energized crowd of about 1,500 at Punahou's Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

The Warriors scored 341 points, comfortably ahead of second-place Pac-Five (294) and third-place Punahou (293.5). All three teams earned berths into the Zippy's/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association State Championships at the Stan Sheriff Center on Dec. 5.

Kamehameha dazzled the crowd again with another fast-paced, precision athletic performance that has been the Warriors' trademark the past decade. Even a slight stumble midway through was not enough to close the gap between the rest of the field.

"It was a very difficult routine, so I told them to try their best, but it doesn't need to be perfect," Kamehameha coach Melissa Beimes said. "I'm proud of them."

For the first time in their title run, the Warriors had a boy, Kealoha Feliciano, on the squad.

"It added a whole new dynamic," Beimes said.

Adding a whole new dynamic to the league was Pac-Five, which is in its first year of competition after many years of being a sideline-only cheer program. But under second-year head coach Ipo Chang - a longtime coach at Saint Louis and Kamehameha - the Wolfpack made an immediate impact.

"We took second in our first competition, and in the second competition we tied Kamehameha," Chang said. "The majority of our girls had never done competitive cheering before, so they had to learn even the basics. It took a lot of patience and perseverance on their part, but our top goal was to win. Kamehameha is an awesome program, and Punahou is a good program, too.

"But we said if we can't get first (place), we're going to try for second and prove to everybody that we belong."

Pac-Five, made up of eight girls from Mid-Pacific, four from Maryknoll, two from University High and one from ASSETS, practiced daily at the Central YMCA.

"It's really exciting," said Tori Fuchigami, a captain and one of only three Wolfpack seniors. "I've been on the team four years, so I saw how well the program developed. At first I didn't think (a state berth) was possible, and at our first competition we were nervous because we didn't know what to expect. Coming from different schools, we didn't know everyone well but we developed friendships, and now I'm really proud of the girls."

'Iolani took fourth place with 273 points, followed by Saint Louis (232), Hawai'i Baptist (228), Christian Academy (196.5), Saint Francis (178.5) and Damien/Sacred Hearts (163).