Boxing legend Muhammad Ali once said, “A true champion can adapt to anything.”
That’s what Strawberry Crest head coach Loveny Rivas told her cheerleaders this season, and it looks like the words of wisdom paid off better than expected. In a 2014-15 season riddled with injuries and a few other bumps in the road, Strawberry Crest became the first team in Hillsborough County history to win the district, regional and state competitions.
“It’s the first state title in school history,” Rivas says. “Everyone is super excited.”
The team was able to do it in spite of facing a number of obstacles throughout the season. Rivas had to use up all of her alternates and pulled girls up from the junior varsity squad. But all that made the win that much more impressive.
ROAD TO SUCCESS
The program is no stranger to fielding a competitive team, as the Lady Chargers have had success even before Rivas was around. They were the runners-up in the 2011 FHSAA state competition, just before she arrived on campus, and last won regionals in 2012. For the last two years, Crest’s best finish in the postseason was runner-up at regionals.
But this year was different. Rivas had what she feels was her most talented squad yet in front of her, and expectations were high.
“That was our goal as a team, to be the first ones in the school to hang a state banner in the gym,” she says.
Although the second-year head coach was anticipating talent, she wasn’t expecting the injuries that followed the start of the season. The injuries happened more often than anyone would have liked and led to some constant roster shuffling that complicated the team’s plans.
“There was a point where our full team wasn’t a full team,” Rivas says. “My team of 20 went down to 18, and there were times when we competed and we didn’t have a full team on the floor.”
That meant that Crest couldn’t do its full routine — at least, not until regionals — and the team ended up going through the regular season without winning a single competition. There were three second-place finishes, and a third-place finish in the competition that Crest hosted.
In addition to the injuries, one girl quit the team and another was dismissed from the program.
In practice, the weight of the season had gotten to the cheerleaders. Rivas had to give the squad a pep talk to help everyone focus, lest another unwanted setback happen.
“I was telling the kids, ‘You have the skill, you just have to control your mind,’” Rivas says. “‘You guys are the most talented group that I’ve had. Just relax, and execute.’ That was something that the team really took in.”
WINNING STREAK
Once the athletes got focused on the task at hand, everything started to trend upward.
When regionals rolled around, two of Crest’s injured cheerleaders were able to come back in time to rejoin the team. That meant it could finally work on practicing its full routine. According to Rivas, no one knew the routine until that point.
With a full team of 20 ready to go, Crest managed to win the competition.
If not for winning the state competition, perhaps Crest’s most impressive feat came in the Western Conference competition. The team dominated, winning by 38 points. For those who don’t follow cheerleading too closely, that’s a huge blowout win.
That just left the state competition.
“We went into states just wanting to do our very best,” Rivas says. “I tell my kids, ‘Don’t worry about the other teams, just focus on what you can do.’”
The team focused in once more and won the whole thing Jan. 30.
That made Crest the only team in Hillsborough history to take a triple win, as well as the only team in school history to go through all three postseason tournaments without a single point deducted from its routine.
The team was also the only one in the county to qualify for the UCA National Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, held last Saturday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. In fact, both the varsity and junior varsity squads made the cut, and both recorded top-10 finishes. The varsity team placed seventh out of 24, and junior varsity finished sixth out of 21.
“Our goal is to be top three in the nation,” Rivas says. “It’s only our second year entering the tournament.”
That goal’s a work in progress. But, these boys and girls can rest easy this offseason, knowing that it wrote itself a Cinderella story and came out on top.
“It’s quite amazing that the team was able to do what they did,” Rivas says. “Nobody thought we could do it.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
THE SQUAD
Varsity:
Quinn Hyde, Kaitlynn Kubecka, Amber Farmer, Michael Gleason, Devonte Lowe, Jaime Zamarripa, Halee Dixon, Georgia Foster, Kelsey Howard, Taylor Fales, Kayla Watts, Carmen Watts, Shaquira Cruz, Shauntelle Cruz, Tarra Love, Brooke Conyers, Savannah Reagan, Julia Strickland, Dakota McNamee, Alyssa Archer
JV:
Mya Turner, McKenzie Talavera, Chelsea Newman, Cameron Cornett, Alexis Powell, Maddisyn Taylor, Tamara Williams, Alyssa Byrd, Destiny Cox, Savannah Himmelin, Bree Sparks
Coaches:
Loveny Rivas, Chelsea Martin, Anthony Medina