After months of preparation the varsity and JV cheer squad both competed in the Fellowship of Christian Cheerleaders (FCC) West Coast Championship at the Anaheim Arena on Feb. 10.

Though the team placed second, the ranking proved a little disappointing after the squad worked to enhance their routine to beat their rival, Whittier Christian. For a Feb. 13 teams photograph, click on FCC West Coast red ribbon team.

?We have been working very hard on making the stunts more difficult to make up for the fact that our weakness is tumbling,? coach Katie Mendenhall said. ?We added a trick to our ending stunt and an extra element, scales, to our partner stunts.?

For the seniors on the varsity squad their final competition proved to be bittersweet experience.

?We stood on the mat before our performance knowing there are 10 seniors on our squad of 15 and we would not be holding back for our last competition,? captain Barbara Kirkorian, ?07, said. ?I was sad knowing it was our last competition, but I was extremely excited to give the performance of a lifetime. Our performance was flawless and after our last stunt hit, an area we were worried about, we stayed in the stunt amazed with ourselves.?

Despite concerns over the remolded routine and losing to Whittier, Mendenhall believes the squad delivered their best performance of the year.

?We truly felt we had our rivals, Whittier Christian, beat,? Mendenhall said. ?When they announced us as second, the one thought was, well, Whittier Christian head coach was named ?Coach of the Year? by FCC staff earlier this season. Could it be politics playing out? Maybe, all I know is that our girls were hands down the better team that day. We had several spectators and other cheerleaders come up and say, ?You should have won!? That?s when you know the truth.?

The squad still had one last chance to perform. The athletic director of Fresno Pacific University, Dennis Janzen, asked the squad to cheer and perform at a basketball game against Point Loma on Feb. 24.

After the game the squad celebrated their year with a desert awards night in the FC Gym. Several cheerleaders were honored with individual awards, including Brittany Motte, ?07, who received the award for cheerleader of the year. For additional information on Motte’s award check out Cheerleader of the Year.

?We have come in second behind Whittier all year,? Mendenhall said. ?We really wanted to beat them. It was disappointing to the girls, not of themselves, but with the judging. Hopefully it was a lesson learned for life, that not everything is fair and disappointment and learning to deal with it, is a part of life.?

For more information regarding previous competitions check out Suzanna Quiring’s Jan. 16, 2007, article, Cheer places 7th at Nationals.