The CSU Stanislaus cheer team recently took the mat in Anaheim, California for the USA Collegiate Championships.  

Prior to the February 26 competition that took place over the course of two days, the cheer team put together a showcase in Fitzpatrick Arena where they also honored the seniors of the team, showing the routine to friends and family who could not make the trip to Anaheim.  

The journey to the competition was not an easy feat for anyone on the team. It took most of the team roughly 13 hours to get to Anaheim due to the crazy weather shutting down the Grapevine. 

Competing in the 4 year college show cheer All Girls Intermediate category, Warrior Cheer went up against 3 other teams in their category, competing against California Baptist University, University Southern California, and Azusa Pacific University. 

Getting to nationals was the battle before the war. With being in the whirlwind of basketball season and preparing for nationals, the team prepared with early morning and late night practices until midnight getting ready for the competition mat. 

With some girls getting injured, many stepped up and learned new positions and fought through the pain that they might have been enduring. 

Team Captain, Kaitlyn Espinola (senior, Liberal Arts) shared that she had not based in many years due to physical conditions but stepped in for pyramid. 

“This is hard but it was definitely empowering too—knowing I still have it and I can do it if I was asked to do it.” Espinola states.

Every sport has their injuries and cheerleading is not excluded from that. With no alternates to put in and people with hurt ankles, bruised ribs, and broken fingers, the team pushed through and everyone came together. 

“Second place feels like first place,” stated Coach Mike DeGuzman. With the schools in the category being all private schools and being around longer, they had a leg up. 

“The only discrepancy is that we just don’t have the tumbling,” DeGuzman expressed, comparing our team to the schools that they were competing against.

Warrior Cheer is self-funded and self-taught with many of their skills, compared to Cal Baptist, who are able to recruit all star cheerleaders with scholarships that bring amazing talent to their program. 

The Lancers seem to be the Warriors number one competition. They have consistently met at various points over the years. Such as camp in August, Daytona, and USA Collegiate Championships. 

On day 1, Warrior Cheer took the mat and had little to no flaws. They trailed the Lancers by only 1 point in execution. 

Going into day 2, Warrior Cheer hit a perfect routine putting them in a great spot for awards. 

The difference between day one and day two was confidence in their skills and that all they needed to do was leave it all on the mat.

One of the team captains, Emme Altamirano (senior, Liberal Arts Major) states what it was like before they went on,

“We knew exactly what was going to happen when we got on that mat. Literally dancing backstage, cracking jokes, and doing the worm.”  

Even though private Southern California universities dominated the category, Warrior Cheer brought back the 2nd place trophy to Stan State.