As she stood on stage surrounded by her teammates, cheerleader Ashley Garcia stared into the gleaming lights. Garcia paused after her team finished their routine to take in the moment.
“I’m very lucky that I got to have that experience,” Garcia said. “Those last few seconds before getting up and rallying out felt so good.”
Garcia, along with the other members of the Pierce College cheer team, competed at nationals in Anaheim, California on Feb. 17-18 and placed second in their group. The national competition featured high schools, two-year colleges and four-year universities.
“I myself am a product of Pierce College, so it was a very surreal feeling to see this team go out there and do their best,” assistant coach Dulce Rendon said.
The team only had nine practices prior to the national competition, due to the death of their head coach, Zach Harris, on Dec. 7, 2023. According to Rendon, competing at nationals was especially important this year because she and the team were concerned about the potential of the program not continuing. Rendon said the team worked hard to compete in Harris’ honor.
“We wanted to be able to go out and represent the school and do it for Coach Zach, and that’s exactly what they did,” Rendon said. “We didn’t want our team to crumble. It didn’t. We reached our goal.”
For Dani Dehart, who has been a member of the cheer team for three seasons, this was her second time competing at nationals. As a prospective transfer to a four-year university, she enjoyed meeting other college students while they were there.
“It’s really cool to see people and the other colleges,” Dehart said. “I also have friends in the cheer world at other schools and it was great to see them.”
Bringing Harris’ picture and a stuffed animal bear with them, Dehart said the team competed for him. She said that this year at nationals was different without his “positive energy,” but that the team came together.
“We tried to keep our hopes and spirits up as if he was there,” Dehart said. “It was very different, but it was still really special.”
