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IAN BIVONA | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 9 months AGO
Members of the Moses Lake High School cheerleading team smile on the podium after finishing first in the 3A/4A Tumbling Coed competition on Friday.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/MIKEY CARLILE
Moses Lake High School cheerleading hits the floor for its performance in the 3A/4A Gameday Coed event at Saturday’s WIAA State Cheerleading competition. The Mavericks finished first, taking home two state titles.
Ian Bivona serves as the Columbia Basin Herald’s sports reporter and is a graduate of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. He enjoys the behind-the-scenes stories that lead up to the wins and losses of the various sports teams in the Basin. Football is his favorite sport, though he likes them all, and his favorite team is the Jets. He lives in Soap Lake with his cat, Honey. | February 6, 2023 4:08 PM
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks successfully defended their state championships in last weekend’s WIAA State Cheerleading competition, taking home the title in 3A/4A Game Day Coed and 3A/4A Tumbling Coed.
“The kids were super excited,” Moses Lake Head Coach Mikey Carlile said. “Going into this weekend, we had won the Coed Division five times in a row, and we had won the Game Day Division last year. They were defending champs in both divisions, so going into the weekend I think they were really excited, but nervous as well.”
Moses Lake took first in the 3A/4A Tumbling Coed on Friday, receiving a score of 82.4. On Saturday, the Mavs received a score of 86.3 in the 3A/4A Game Day Coed competition, again finishing first.
Of the 31 cheerleaders that Moses Lake took to the state, 23 cheered in the tumbling competition. All 31 participated in the game day competition.
“They came off the floor in a good mood,” Carlile said. “They were proud of what they put out there, and that’s all you can do. We tell our kids all the time, ‘All you can do is your very best, so you put your very best on the floor.’”
Upon hearing that they had yet again taken home state titles, the Mavericks were gracious in victory, according to Carlile.
“They weren’t expecting to win necessarily, but they were hoping to win, so they were happy, super excited,” Carlile said. “I have good kids, so they were very gracious – they congratulated other teams and told other people that they did a good job. They’re good kids.”
The groundwork in preparing for competitions begins long before cheerleaders hit the floor to compete in December.
“We start working on the stunting skills that we need back in the summer,” Carlile said. “We continue that through football season, and then somewhere in the fall we start working on putting those routines together We start working on this stuff a long time ago, but then we put the routine together in the fall.”
In order to qualify for the state competition, teams must score at least 65 during a competition.
“We earned a qualifying score every time we competed,” Carlile said.
Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.
