Cheerleaders

Admirable, commendable and praiseworthy are a few words I use to describe the Costa Mesa High School cheerleaders and their coach. Along with keeping up good grades and their personal lives, these young ladies always find time for community involvement. Coach Kori Johnson is the driving force behind this noteworthy squad. I asked her to explain the type of standards the cheerleaders are held to: "All the girls are held to high standards and are expected to maintain and achieve high academics (3.0 or higher)

Deirdre Newman NEWPORT BEACH -- The end to an unusual controversy over pompoms at Newport Harbor High School came Tuesday when Principal Michael Vossen announced the 17 girls who didn't make the original teams will have to try out again. The late afternoon announcement upheld an independent committee's recommendation to let the original judging decision stand and hold an extra tryout to fill two more spots on both the varsity and junior varsity teams.

NEWPORT BEACH - Registration for the upcoming Newport-Mesa Junior All-American Football season will take place May 5 & 12 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary's multipurpose room. Player registration is $220, which includes all equipment, a game jersey, a trophy, insurance and a physical exam. Cheerleader registration is $110 per player, which includes a trophy, insurance and a physical exam. New players/cheerleaders are asked to bring a proof of residence and an original or certified copy of a birth certificate.

Cheerleaders from Estancia High School will flaunt some of the hottest styles today and Sunday during a fashion show at Gods & Heroes salon and boutique in Costa Mesa. The magazine Flaunt OC incorporates four Orange County high school cheerleading squads, including Estancia, as models. The show features a new line designed by Linkin Park?s front man, Chester Bennington. The event raises money for the schools, as well as for THINK Together, a charity program that helps needy children in Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Costa Mesa High School cheerleaders have been selected along with four other Orange County high schools to appear in a fashion show at Gods and Heroes Studios in Costa Mesa at 7 p.m. Feb. 17. The event will be hosted by two stars of MTV’s “Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County,” Clay and Allie. Corona Del Mar, Edison, University and Laguna Hills high schools are also represented. Tickets cost $20 at the door, but the Costa Mesa High School cheer program will pre-sell tickets to the event for $15 with $5 from each pre-sale going to the team.

signups Newport-Mesa football players and cheerleaders can sign up for the upcoming Jr. All-American season on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the multipurpose room at Lincoln Elementary School, 3101 Pacific View Dr. in Corona del Mar. A second signup session is planned for the same site and time on May 18. Football players' registration fee is $220. It is $110 for cheerleaders. After May 18, registration increases to $250 for football and $130 for cheerleading.

Approximately 70 junior cheer cheerleaders performed at Saturday’s varsity football game against Dana Hills on Saturday.   The cheerleaders rallied onto the field at halftime and performed beautifully in front of a large home audience.  The performance this year included a dance routine, with stunts and tumbling incorporated into the performance.  The young girls’ ages ranged from 5 to 13. Newport Harbor’s cheerleaders conducted a junior cheer camp clinic in August for four days.

COSTA MESA — Hundreds of coats and sweaters were donated to a local shelter and the Boys & Girls Club, thanks to the efforts of outgoing Councilwoman Katrina Foley, the police department and the Costa Mesa High School cheerleaders. On Friday, the group took the coats they collected for the past few weeks to the Boys & Girls Club on Tustin Avenue and then drove to the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter and donated two 4-feet-high boxes of overflowing coats and sweaters, Foley said.

Wearing a brown halter top with matching beads lining her neck, one Costa Mesa student makes her turn at the end of the runway in silver high heels. Another shows off her sparkling jeweled brown jacket as she struts in front of onlookers. Cheerleaders know how to play to a crowd. Which is part of the reason three cheerleading squads from Orange County schools, including Costa Mesa High School, were chosen to be the models for a charity fashion show at God’s and Heros in Costa Mesa Sunday night.

Is cheer a sport? That is a widely debated question throughout the United States. While critics may argue that the current format of cheerleading is more of an activity than a sport, there is a new sport on the horizon and cheer plays a main role in it. To help with the current NCAA Title IX, USA Cheer has developed a new sport to fit the Title IX requirements and it is called STUNT. Across the nation, colleges and universities have begun competing in games in this new format.

IRVINE - A green tent and a table lined with dozens of cupcakes was set up alongside the skinny sapling planted in memory of 14-year-old cheerleader Ashton Sweet, who died after a car crash on Memorial Day weekend. Friday would have been Sweet's 15th birthday, and friends and family gathered at Irvine Boulevard and Culver Drive to honor the memory of the Northwood High School freshman who prosecutors assert was killed by a suspected drunk driver. "We feel so connected to this spot.

NEWPORT BEACH - A 14-year-old cheerleader clung to life with the faintest pulse after a man accused of drunk driving plowed into the car she was riding in over Memorial Day weekend, a witness testified Thursday in the Harbor Justice Center. A passerby checked on an unconscious Ashton Sweet after the crash but felt no pulse, said Irvine police Officer Tim McDonald. Sweet's body was limp in the woman's arms. McDonald assisted and laid Sweet onto the curb. He said he felt a faint pulse and shallow breathing before paramedics arrived and attended to her. Days later, Sweet died in a hospital after her family chose to take her off life support and donate her organs.

A tree was planted this week to memorialize a 14-year-old cheerleader killed in a Memorial Day weekend car crash, the girl's stepfather said. The sapling was planted on a corner at the intersection of Culver Drive and Irvine Boulevard in Irvine, where Ashton Sweet died following a May 29 crash that also sent four others to the hospital. Thursday marked the four-month anniversary of Sweet's death, and her stepfather, David Pidcock, said the family visited the intersection and placed candles for his stepdaughter to commemorate the day. Pidcock said the city was helpful in reaching out to the family to find a tree befitting the permanent memorial.

Admirable, commendable and praiseworthy are a few words I use to describe the Costa Mesa High School cheerleaders and their coach. Along with keeping up good grades and their personal lives, these young ladies always find time for community involvement. Coach Kori Johnson is the driving force behind this noteworthy squad. I asked her to explain the type of standards the cheerleaders are held to: "All the girls are held to high standards and are expected to maintain and achieve high academics (3.0 or higher)

CORONA DEL MAR - Although the wall of the gym reads "Home of the Sea Kings," Thursday afternoon belonged to 152 Little Sea Queens, whose parents packed the bleachers to watch their young cheerleaders perform at the final day of cheer camp at Corona del Mar High School. The wood floor boomed with the stomping of small feet at the second-annual event as parents lined the gym, documenting the performance with cameras. "She's my little girl," Kevin Sharp said of his 8-year-old daughter Sydney.

A memorial at the site of where a drunk driver allegedly killed a 14-year-old Irvine cheerleader may be moved at the request of some residents, the victim's family said. Ashton Sweet was killed May 29 in a car crash at Culver Drive and Irvine Boulevard when a driver hit the Mercedes-Benz that she and three other friends were riding in after they left a birthday party. Soon after the crash, the corner's utility box and traffic signal were covered with farewell messages, while flowers and candles covered the sidewalk.

COSTA MESA - On a sunny Saturday with temperatures in the low 70s, a nice breeze rustled through Jim Scott Stadium at just after noon. Costa Mesa Mayor Gary Monahan wasn't kidding when he told the crowd, "What a wonderful day for football, huh?" A few seconds later, Monahan said something else that made the crowd applaud even louder. He announced that the 2011 Costa Mesa Pop Warner season was officially open. Everything appeared to be in place on opening day. There were more than 200 Mesa Eagles on eight teams, from Flag all the way up to Midget, ready to get their season going with scrimmages Saturday afternoon.

SANTA ANA — Speaking from behind a glass partition in Orange County Jail, the Irvine man accused of killing a 14-year-old Irvine cheerleader while driving drunk expressed sadness and concern Friday for the families affected by the May 29 collision. Austin Jeffrey Farley did not admit or deny responsibility for the teenager's death, saying that he is not the "careless maniac" being portrayed in the media. "As a human being, as a person, I feel terrible for their family," he said.

COSTA MESA — Hundreds of coats and sweaters were donated to a local shelter and the Boys & Girls Club, thanks to the efforts of outgoing Councilwoman Katrina Foley, the police department and the Costa Mesa High School cheerleaders. On Friday, the group took the coats they collected for the past few weeks to the Boys & Girls Club on Tustin Avenue and then drove to the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter and donated two 4-feet-high boxes of overflowing coats and sweaters, Foley said.