Hanford Cheer squads headed to Florida for Nationals

Hanford High School's cheer squads are headed to Florida for nationals after taking first place in their divisions at State.

The Varsity and Junior Varsity teams both participated in the Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) Northwest Regional Cheer Championship November 4th at Bellevue High School.

• Purple (Varsity) - 1^st Place, Super Large division
  2^nd Place, Game Day division
• Gold (Junior Varsity) - 1^st Place, JV Non-Tumbling division.

According to a press release from the Richland School District, this is the Hanford cheer program’s 10th regional title.

“We couldn’t be more proud,” noted coaches Kim Mayer, Rylan Fernandez, and Kathey Hatfield. “Our purple team overcame injuries and our gold team is young. The girls are excited to return to Orlando.”

The placement in Bellevue means the Hanford High squads have now qualified for the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship in Orlando this February. Last year, varsity placed 2^nd at nationals while junior varsity placed 5^th.