In her fourth year as coach, Jessii Stevens is seeing the hard work of her first group of original freshmen, now seniors, pay off.

Last year, Mount Si qualified two teams, Medium Varsity and Non-Tumbling Small Varsity, for the Washington Cheerleading State Championships. Both teams placed second in their divisions.

Two seniors, Chloe Villanueva and Meg Krivanec, have come a long way, said Stevens.

“Both girls have grown so much,” she said.

“Chloe has a lot of great leadership skills that will help lead this group of girls this year, with a strong focus on school spirit and community. She is great team player and very involved and committed to the program.”

Other strong returning seniors Megan Ferkovich and Dana Pecora. Talented underclassmen include Miranda Gillespie, a junior, Kirstie Clark, a sophomore, and Mikaelyn Davis, a freshman.

“All the girls have strong tumbling skill, which will be great for competition season,” Stevens said.

Freshman Danielle Kraycik and Nicki Mostofi are good dancers, jumpers, bases and bring some tumbling skills, too..

The four captains—Villanueva, Pecora, Ferkovich and Krivanec—will all have a great impact on the underclassmen

“I expect a successful year due to their leadership,” Stevens said. “Chloe, Dana, Meg, Kendall Maddux and Maura Williams are all Cheer Seniors who are also on ASB. I love to see so many of my Seniors in ASB – which helps ASB and Cheer work hand in hand.”

This season, Stevens hopes to see Mount Si increase its community involvement. Team members this year went on a big donation drive for Eastside Baby Corner, helped with the Tanner Jeans Bike Rodeo, YMCA Healthy Kids Day, the Fall City Days and Railroad Days Fun Runs and all community parades. Next up, the team hosts its Mini Cheer Camp September 19 to 21.

“The team loves camp because they love working with Mount Si’s future cheerleaders,” Stevens said. Following the camp, the young cheerleaders put on a halftime show for a varsity football game.

Cheerleading happens to be real hard work.

“My overall coaching philosophy is balance,” Stevens said. “If anyone looked at a cheerleader’s calendar, you would see practices, games, community events, competitions, team events… and our calendar is year-round.

“However, I really try to make the schedule as family friendly as I can. I know kids have school, jobs, families, friends, and all of those things are important components of high school and growing up,” she says. “So when we are at practice three days a week, I expect my kids to give me their two hours—whether we are working on spirit things, an assembly, or competition, I need to have them focused on cheer.

“I also believe that you perform how you practice,” Stevens adds. “Returning cheerleaders understand this – new cheerleaders don’t necessarily get this. If you’ve been sloppy at practice all week, don’t think things are going to change when standing in front of hundreds to thousands of people!”

Assistant coach Travis Anderson is in his first season with the team, bringing a lot of tumbling and stunting experience as well as a focus on conditioning and cheer strength training. A grant from the Tanner Jeans Memorial Foundation pays for his role.

Cheer can lead to college competition. The sport has helped a past team member, Stephen Hannan, go on to the next level. He is cheering as a freshman at Washington State University this year.

You can follow the team at its website, www.mountsicheer.weebly.com.