WHS cheer earns sweet 16th district championship


Weiser High School’s Cheer squad is headed to State competition on Saturday, Feb. 24, for the 16th year since the Wolverines’ very first year as an IHSAA sanctioned activity. The 2024 District title is Weiser’s 16th, and they have brought home nine 3A All Girl State titles over the past 16 years, as well as three State Team trophies, and are in the hunt to lay claim to another. Photo by Nicole Miller
By: 
Nicole Miller
Weiser High School cheerleaders coached by Nicole Ramirez competed in the District III championship and state qualifier on Saturday, Feb. 10 at Ridgevue High School. The team faced the toughest competition ever in the SRV, but earned first place in the all-girl show cheer, second place in Sideline, and second place in Pom, qualifying for state in all three and earning the title of District Champions – making this 16 straight years for Weiser. 
 The cheerleaders work on their three competition routines starting in August, but do not get to compete until the end of January with the Treasure Valley Cheer Invitational. Giving them just one competition for the District competition that determines which teams qualify for state. 
 TVCI is always a crucial competition, since it is the only chance to get feedback from judges and check choreography. This year TVCI was even more important because the SRV competition is stronger than ever before. More teams from the SRV competed and the teams were all very strong. At the TVCI competition, both Fruitland and Homedale performed well. Fruitland earned first place in all-girl show cheer. Homedale earned first place in sideline, and co-ed show cheer, and Weiser was only able to take the top spot in the pom division. 
 Ramirez shared that TVCI was an eye opener for the squad. They were disappointed after coming away with only one first place win. They knew they needed to step it up if they wanted to qualify for state in more than just the one event. Ramirez knew that the squad was just as talented as previous years, but they were facing the toughest competition they have ever faced in the SRV, so each routine needed to be executed with precision.  
 Following the feedback from the judges, the team worked on sharpening their moves and improving their jumps and overall timing throughout the two weeks between TVCI and the district competition. Ramirez was also grateful for the help of Andrea Williams and Rashelle Boyer who both were able to come to practices and help with cleaning and formations.
 Ramirez shared that the team really showed that they wanted the win even pulling in extra practices. This 16th District championship felt a little sweeter overall. 
 “I could not be more proud of this squad and their determination. This win meant much more and felt so much different,” Ramirez shared. 
 At the district competition, Weiser was once again up against Fruitland and Homedale, but also McCall, and Payette –  making this the most teams that Weiser has ever faced for the district competition.
 In the pom competition, Weiser took second place. The scores for the competition were extremely close, with Fruitland earning first place in this competition with a score of 141. Weiser’s score was just a few points behind with a score of 139.5. McCall earned the third place spot with a score of 134. Payette scored a 133.5 with Homedale scoring a 129. The scores were not only very close, but also very high. Weiser scored higher than all but three teams at the competition including the 4A schools
 In the sideline competition, Weiser was up against both the co-ed and all girl squads. This particular routine was the biggest struggle at TVCI, where they took third place – 15 points behind Homedale and one point behind Fruitland. Weiser improved upon their score by 14.5 points, only losing to Homedale by .5 with a score of 133. Fruitland scored a 126.5. Both Homedale and Weiser scored higher than all but one of the 4A teams. 
 The show cheer competition is the most important as it is worth the most placement points for the District championship. For the show cheer division, teams either compete in all-girl or co-ed, so Weiser was up against Fruitland and McCall while Homedale and Payette each competed in the co-ed division. Weiser scored a 273.5, earning them not only the top score in the 3A all girl division, but also the top score among all the show cheer scores including the co-ed and 4A schools. Fruitland was still very close behind with a score of 270.5.  
 Ramirez shared that the team could not have done it without the support of the amazing parents. A lot of people don’t realize that for both sideline and show cheer crowd involvement is actually part of the score and the judges definitely noticed the support Weiser had. Ramirez shared that this is the best parent support she has ever seen and she couldn’t be more grateful.
 Weiser Cheer will compete in all three events at the state competition at the Ford Idaho Center on Saturday, Feb. 24. Tickets for the 2024 State Cheer championships will be available on GoFan beginning Monday, Feb. 19 at 10 a.m. 
 

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18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
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