Photo courtesy by Holly Darby

The cheer team sits in a circle for some last minute team bonding before their regionals performance.

This year, Walter Johnson’s varsity cheer team qualified for the Regional Competition. They achieved an impressive score of 120 at Counties which brought them to Regionals, where they received a score of 113. This is still quite an accomplishment considering the judges score much harsher as the level of competition progresses. Sherwood High School ended up securing first place. Regardless, making it to semifinals was a huge success for the team.

“It was so cool to to go to Regionals because we have never made it that far in the competition. It was really exciting and I’m so sad that it’s over,” junior Mia Dorrien said.

The team performed better this season than ever before and definitely created a new reputation for WJ cheer.

“I’m so proud of my team for making it that far for the first time ever. We really stepped up our game,” senior Alisha Price said.

The team’s success was partially due to the additional coaching from WJ alum Karlo Lazaro this season. Lazaro was the first male to ever join WJ cheer which set an impressive precedent for the future generations of the team. Lazaro’s specialty was dancing, which the team feels he helped them improve greatly in.

“Karlo was such an inspiration and role model to all of us. Being an alumnus, he was super easy to relate to and was super helpful in choreographing and coaching. We love him so much and can’t wait for him to come back,” senior captain Nick Orellana said.