LOWER LAKE >> Viva Las Vegas.
And hooray for the 14 girls and one boy who comprise the competitive cheerleading team at Lower Lake High School for what they accomplished in the sold-out four-day JAMZ Youth National Cheerleading and Dance Championships on Feb. 26-28 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
From a global perspective the first-place finish the Trojans had in the event was something to shout about, both nationally and locally. To anyone’s recollection Lower Lake’s championship was the first national title ever scored by the youth of Lake County.
More than 800 teams participated. Only seven were in the high school division that Lower Lake competed in, but they included teams from such far-off places as Florida, Alaska and Hawaii. Most of the rest were all-star (club) teams.
“I still can’t believe it’s real, but it is real. It actually happened,” said Lower Lake head coach Angie Wade, who brought competition-level cheerleading to the county two years ago.
“I wasn’t surprised that they won because of how hard they have worked for hours upon hours upon hours.”
Indeed. Just to get onto the Lower Lake team required an unprecedented effort. Each team member had to maintain a 3.5 grade point average, which is considerably higher than is required for any other athletic activity at Lower Lake. Once the student makes the team, he/she has to keep up with physical demands. In other words, playing hurt when necessary.
Wade’s own children — a boy who is a member of the school’s drumline and a girl on the cheer team — are subject to the academic requirements.
Tough enough to make the cut and stick with the physical regimen the team requires were Haylee Wade, Gladys Lopez, Mariah Bickham, Mackenzie Kilkenny,Taylor Ogulin, Roxana Olivares, Kylie Lampela, Alejandra Horan, Rebecca Chavez, Emma Mitcham, Willow Goldtooth, Layla Pearson, Dallas Kuckowicz, Callie Lambert and the team’s lone boy, Bryan Rodriguez.
“These are strong-minded students who are going to get it no matter what it takes,” she added. “They haven’t been afraid to get in there and keep going. We’ve had black eyes, bloody noses and you look at their legs … they’re nothing but bruises.”
And, says Wade, “They’re real sticklers on execution and interaction with the judges. They had it all. They’ve all worked so well together. They’ve all stepped up and helped themselves to higher levels than I could have ever expected.”
That’s just from an individual standpoint. There were team demands as well, according to Wade. The car washes, chili cook-offs and fundraising events which provided the funds needed to get to ‘Vegas.
“They’ve been to Lions, Lionesses and Rotary and made appearances all over the place,” said Wade. Wade’s husband, Josh, an engineer at Calpine, has the best seat in the house to see what the cheerleaders have accomplished and he’s been impressed by what he’s seen — and what he hasn’t seen. Such as all the equipment, infrastructure and facilities that schools in other areas of the country have and Lower Lake does not.
“We’re not as wealthy as other schools,” said Josh Wade. “Every school we went up against had proper training facilities, all the mats and materials they needed to practice and funding and everything like that. We practiced in the cafeteria and had to put tape on the floor to mark off where the boundaries are. The team had only a fraction of what it needed.
“Our kids didn’t have every benefit the other schools had coming into the competition. So it’s been really neat to see them go out there and hold their heads high and be confident.”
Lower Lake principal Jessica Taliaferro said the team’s willingness to go on without the same advantages other schools have “demonstrated a strong work ethic that goes beyond the classroom.”
Added Taliaferro, “We are proud of them.”
Team members have put in a lot of time and energy and so have their coaches — Angie Wade and her assistants Audra Ogulin and Ken Eckert. And Lower Lake was twice blessed when Wade walked into the program.
“Two years ago when I got into this group it had only two members who had ever been cheerleaders,” she said. “Only two of them could do a cartwheel well or do any kind of tumbling. We worked with them and now there are 98 percent who know how to do the skills in competition.”
Like other members of the Trojan coaching staff, Ward has drawn inspiration from varsity football head coach Justin Gaddy.
“The first day I walked in Gaddy said to me, ‘We need to talk. We need to get it together. We need to make this a huge team.’ At that moment I knew that’s exactly what I wanted. We do stuff with football and basketball. Having this closeness also helps each team do better. It’s everyday support.”
Who cheers for the Lower Lake cheerleaders? Well, one would suspect, just about everybody in Lower Lake.
