Costa cheer places eighth in Nationals

Costa cheer competes in the National High School Cheerleading Championship in Orlando, Florida on Feb.11-13. The team placed eighth in the traditional large varsity non-tumbling division. Photo courtesy of Ellie Penczar

By Elizabeth Goldman

Sports Editor

Costa cheer placed eighth in the Universal Cheerleaders Association 2022 National High School Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, Florida on Feb. 11-13. They competed in the traditional large varsity non-tumbling division.

The team competed in November to be eligible for Nationals. During Nationals, the team was in Florida for five days where they competed in three rounds of competition: prelims, semi-finals, and finals.

“I really enjoyed Nationals because the team bonded so much and really came together,” varsity sophomore side base Ellie Penczar said. “We all have worked so hard for that one moment, and even though we didn’t get first, I think everyone was really proud of what we put out on the mat.”

According to Penczar, the team’s strengths are jumps and dancing, but their weakness lies in the bond between the team, which was weakened because of COVID. Following Nationals, the team competed in the California Interscholastic Federation Southern California Championships on Feb. 19, where it placed second.

“I am excited for next year to hopefully learn more skills and possibly do even better in the competition,” Penczar said. “Because of COVID, we didn’t get the full experience, and I am excited to experience everything that we missed out on.”