JDHS cheer team wins state championship

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé cheer team wowed the crowd and their competition during Tuesday’s 2025 ASAA Cheer State Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center and walked away with their fifth Division I cheer championship in a row.

“I am so proud of everybody and…I…this is the best ending I could have asked for,” a tearful JDHS senior Sophia Percy said. “And I just love everybody so much and I can’t believe I got to be a part of this. And I’m just so proud of everybody, I’m so sad I’m graduating.”

The Crimson Bears have now won the past five Division I titles. There was no cheer competition during the 2020 COVID-19 break and Ketchikan won the title in 2019.

“It is just a really great feeling because this is my fourth year on the team and we’ve won all four years,” JDHS senior Ayla Keller said. “It is just a really great feeling of, even through all the ups and the downs, knowing we were able to push through and be able to keep our title another year. We were very nervous. And to our knowledge, we believe that we are the only team to win five years in a row.”

Competition was especially difficult this championship as five of the 10 DI cheer squads were within a pom pom’s throw and a basket toss of taking the title.

“It is kind of crazy,” JDHS senior Gabrielle Ely said. “This is my first year on the team and we come back with a five-peat state title. It is kind of mind-blowing. The highlight was that we put our best on the floor and to see everybody else do the same thing, and just knowing that no matter what we did that we put our best on the floor.”

In the first half of competition teams went through their sideline and timeout cheers, and then were given three situational moments they might encounter in a game and respond with some type of cheer.

“I am feeling good,” JDHS senior Stefano Rivera said. “It is good to know that we are not going home empty-handed and it feels like all that hard work, hours of practice, paid off. When the stunts hit, when we throw someone in the air, it is so satisfying…I was pretty nervous at the beginning, but once you are actually doing the routine everything just zones out and you’re in your own world. I thought Ketchikan performed really well too, they were pretty good competition against us.”

The second half of the competition would be the most stressful as JDHS had fallen to Ketchikan at the Region V championships two weeks ago in Ketchikan.

“Defending our regions and state titles were goals for us, but also pressure,” JDHS coach Nore said. “It’s not easy keeping that streak going and it requires a strong buy-in from athletes and parents. Heading into regions we knew it would be tough with just two teams. We ended up dropping two stunts and you can’t win if you drop. With an inexperienced team, it was a learning lesson for everyone. You can’t win them all, but you can certainly learn from them, make changes and come back stronger. That’s what our focus was on. Yes, wining state was a goal, but the focus became more about doing your best, giving full effort and not letting your teammates down. If everyone did their part we would be successful no matter how we placed.”

That second half of competitions was the halftime floor routines and Wasilla gained some fan attention with their performance.

JDHS followed and performed an almost flawless set, as did Ketchikan later and Colony after Kayhi. With 10 DI teams and 12 DII teams the tension had built.

As all the cheer teams gathered and danced on the floor after, awaiting the judges’ final scorings, the tension had given way to the cheer community camaraderie, and as winners and runner-ups were announced all were received with their peers’ cheers.

Colony was announced as the runner-up for DI and the fans held their breath as both Southeast schools had done breathless routines.

When JDHS was announced as the winner, the Crimson Bears tumbled over themselves in elation.

“State offered us many challenges and wonderful competitors,” JDHS coach Nore said. “Great programs push you to do your best under pressure. Winning a five-peat is beyond exciting. At some point this will end and we will be on the other side again, but we’re not done yet, our team is already looking at next season. Passing the baton to the next team is where our success is. It’s not about one team, it’s a program and this is where our success lies. Each team builds of the next one and we continue to grown and strive to make our alumni and community proud. But for now we go to sleep a five-peat champ.”

JDHS’ Arely Vera Garcia and Aidan Lazo-Chappell were selected to the DI All-Tournament Cheer Team after the competition.

“I just feel like I never would have gotten this award without them,” Vera Garcia said. “I’m just so proud of everyone on this team and obviously just love all we have been doing.”

Added Zazo-Chappell, “I’m so proud of myself and our team. Everyone worked so hard and I’m just so proud of our team. A five-peat is crazy.”

The DI All-Tournament Cheer Team were JDHS’ Vera Garcia and Lazo-Chappell, Ketchikan’s Kate Thomas and Clara Odden, Chugiak’s Amelia Dempsey, Colony’s Benson Tedd and Serenity Crawford, Eagle River’s Ashlyn McVey, Lathrop’s Vivian Sandine, Soldotna’s Brooklynn Vann, and Wasilla’s Naileeni Tufaga and Tessa Vinette.

DII Champions were the Grace Christian Grizzlies and DII runner-up were the Seward Seahawks.

The DII All-Tournament Cheer Team were Nome’s Kara Johanson, Bethel’s Isabella January, Seward’s Lola Swanson, Kenai’s Sarah Baisden, Mt. Edgecumbe’s Kennedy Johnson, Cordova’s Morgan Saiget, Su Valley’s Violet Cole, Houston’s Charlotte Clark, Haines’ Isabelle Alamillo, Valdez’ Joslyn Unger, Barrow’s Nikyla Gueco and Grace Christian’s Abigail Mckay.

The DI Cheer Competition Academic Award went to the Wasilla Warriors with a 3.44 GPA and the DII Cheer Competition Academic Award went to the Seward Seahawks with a 3.96 GPA.

The JDHS cheer team are Ely, Keller, Percy, Rivera, Lazo-Chappell, Vera Garcia, Hadley Bex, Mia Brown Cortes, Marlee Gines, John Nathen Renz Hill, Matt Iona, Simon Iputi, Rylie Mulkey, Megan Pierce, Tayana Ramirez, Karina San Miguel, Alexa Scarano, Kira Tupou and Audrey Yu. Coaches are Nore, Reuben Grimes and Colby Sanders.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stole@juneauempire.com.