Hanford cheer team makes its mark among nation’s elite

Most sports fans don’t pay much mind to the cheerleaders, but at Hanford High School, the cheer squad is worth taking a peek at the next time you watch the Falcons play.

Hanford finished second to Bryant High School (Arkansas) in the Super Varsity non-tumbling division at the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship on Feb. 11-12 in Orlando, Fla.

It is the first top-10 finish for Hanford at the national level. The Falcons also placed 10th in the Super Varsity Non-Tumbling Game Day competition.

“We’ve won other national titles, but this is the one that really counts,” Hanford coach Kim Mayer said of the UCA program. “This is where people take notice.”

Hanford trailed Bryant by 1.7 points heading into the finals and lost by 3 points.

The Hanford junior varsity squad also placed at nationals, taking fifth in the JV division.

To reach nationals, Hanford was selected to participate in an invite-only camp. From there, certain criteria had to be met. Seven teams from Washington moved on to nationals.

“It is the pinnacle of cheerleading,” Mayer said. “You have have to have your stuff squared away.”

The Falcons’ routine featured stunts, dancing, jumps and a cheer.

“Your performance can only be 2 minutes, 30 seconds long, and the music for 1 1/2 minutes,” said Mayer, who has led the Hanford program for 20 years.

Cheerleading has come a long way since auditions in front of the student body during lunch break.

Mayer holds tryouts the end of March, and once the team is set, the work begins.

“We go to camps, I have a guy from Kentucky who does our choreography, and we have a tumbling coach (former Hanford cheerleader Amanda Bogen, who went on to cheer at Morehead State) come in once a week,” said Mayer, who is assisted by Kathey Hatfield and Rylan Fernandez. “Practice is a different animal. We practice five days a week unless we have a game. Our teams come first. These girls put in a lot of hours.”

The cheerleaders also do community service work and raise funds for their their camps and trips to nationals.

“We raise all of our own funds, and the parents pay a portion,” Mayer said. “One of our big fundraisers is a flower sale in the spring. That brings in a ton of money.”

Of the 34 girls in the program this year, only four are graduating.

“Hopefully they will all return,” Mayer said. “It is a lot of work and it’s not for everyone. I have 11 juniors who have been cheering all three years. I get amazing girls and great parents and it works. It’s a huge commitment on everyone’s part.”

Mayer also has had cheerleaders go on to perform at college. Currently, there are former Hanford cheerleaders at Harvard, Stanford and Washington State. In the past, others have gone to Gonzaga, Seattle University, Colorado Mesa and Morehead State, which is a fixture at the NCAA nationals.

“If nothing else, they get a chance to cheer and things get paid for,” said Mayer, who noted there are cheerleading scholarships. “The opportunities are there for them.”

The Hanford varsity team members include: Grace Benitz, Abrianna Boarder, Krizia Brooks, Brie Buchanan, Brooklyn Jorde, Stevie Kanyid, Natalie Lawrence, Payton Mayer, Rae’Lu McBride, Kylee Mitchell, Jalen Moberg, Jordan Murphey, Michelle Ni, Caitlyn Palmer, Sydney Parsons, Jasmine Rice, Shaylee Richey, Aspen Rohrer, Kabriah Rullman, Chloe Schumacher, Grace Stephens, and Grace Sypher.

This story was originally published March 5, 2017 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Hanford cheer team makes its mark among nation’s elite."