For the first time in school history, the Mountain View High School competitive cheerleading team has won the Central Coast Section traditional competitive cheer championship.
The Spartans emerged victorious in the Novice Small Traditional Show division with 89.4 points and a three-point margin over second-place Santa Teresa Jan. 20 at Independence High School. District rival Los Altos finished fourth in the division (83.37).
“When we were called first place it was exciting and surprising at the same time,” said Emily Gupta, one of Mountain View’s four team captains. “Though there were seven teams in the division, they started reading from third, second to first place. After they called third and second place, we thought we hadn’t placed at all, which was why winning was so much more exciting.”
While excited about the team’s win, head coach Christina Cordero knew it was far from guaranteed going into the event.
“We don’t necessarily go out there and say, ‘You guys are going to win,’” Cordero said. “I don’t think that they were expecting anything – they were going to be happy with either result. And when they won, they were just so happy and excited to see their hard work all season pay off.”
Beyond the Spartans’ strong technical execution on the CCS mat, the team captains said the months of preparation, practice and adapting to change helped them land the winning spot.
Since the establishment of CCS-sanctioned competitive cheerleading competitions, Mountain View competed in the non-tumbling division until fall 2023, where it moved to the Traditional Show, or tumbling division.
“For the first time, a lot of newcomers who tried out had tumbling skills, so we were able to compete in the tumbling division, which was a different but exciting experience,” Gupta said.
To their advantage, the Spartans also returned a great number of cheerleaders who brought experience.
“Last year was the first time Mountain View had a competition team since COVID, and we started from the very bottom,” team captain Kayla Rhoadarmer said. “This year, we kind of already knew what we were doing, and with a good mix of leadership and skills we improved so much from our peak of last year.”
Even as problems arose throughout the season, the team was able to work around (or through) them. For example, the team often practiced for more than three hours at a time due to the lack of practice facilities available. Various cheerleaders were also taken out by illness or injury, after which some cheerleaders had to step into new positions or roles.
“It was hard to move people around, but it was also really cool to see what people are capable of outside their usual spots,” Gupta said. “One of our bases had never “backspotted” in her life, and now she’s the base of our pyramid stunt, and it just shows how versatile and adaptable our team is.”
But having worked through these changes only makes winning feel more rewarding.
“Right before we get on the mat, I’m saying, ‘Guys, we’re going to put everything out there, and even if we’re super tired, we just got to push through and we can be tired off the mat,’” captain Kiana Nejad said. “And when we’re done, everyone is just so proud of each other, and there’s an overwhelming feeling that we did it together.”
As team members look back on their local victory and forward to the USA Spirit Nationals in Anaheim Feb. 16-18, Cordero reminded them that – win or lose – the effort they put into the process is far more important than any competition result.
“Winning is nice. Winning is great,” Cordero said. “But I’ve never actually stressed winning with this team. I’m more like, ‘Give me what you can and give me your best.’ We’ll try to hit zero deductions but after that, the result is out of our hands.”
