By Kyle LoJacono
The Freedom cheerleading squad entered the Hillsborough championships on a four-meet winning streak and rode that momentum to the first county title in program history on Jan. 17.
The Patriots continued their winning ways four days later by claiming the Region 3 large varsity championship at Plant City High, another first for the program. Freedom finished third at the same meet last year.
Freedom posted 88.9 points at regionals, besting second-place Gaither’s 78.8. Only the top three teams advance to states.
“They’ve got to keep doing the same things because they’re getting better every time out,” said fourth-year Patriots coach Linda Martinez. “We didn’t have a stellar performance at regions, but they pulled through because of the difficulty of the routine. It was good for them to see they can make a mistake or two and still win, but I don’t like any mistakes. We’re going to be coming back hard at practice.”
Martinez said she always puts together hard routines because it pushes the girls to stay sharp. She added it was that high level of difficulty that helped them pull through with two championships in one week.
Freedom scored 416 points to claim the county crown, followed by Strawberry Crest’s 401 and Bloomingdale’s 380. All 27 of Hillsborough’s public high schools participated at the event.
“We had competed against most of the teams already in the four county regionals in December,” Martinez said. “We won those four, so we went in feeling strong, but my whole thing with the team is it’s never about winning. It’s always about doing the best we can and winning is the icing on the cake.”
The Patriots were close to tasting that icing a year ago when they finished third at the county championships. Martinez said she was pleased to see her athletes’ hard work pay off with a title this year.
“The biggest thing is it happened because of the work ethic of the team,” Martinez said. “It takes a good coach to help bring them together, but it’s really all about the passion, heart and soul of the team.”
Freedom has hosted the county event the last three years. Martinez said being in their home gym has its pros and cons.
“I think that gives them a little bit of a comfort level being at home, but it’s an added element of pressure,” Martinez said. “We’re hosting, so people tend to think that they’re going to win. … It’s great that we hosted, but it has a little bit of a double-edge sword.”
The next challenge for Freedom and Gaither is the state meet Feb. 2-4 in Kissimmee.
