San Lorenzo Valley High School cheerleading coach DeAnna Heywood went out with a bang. In Heywood’s final event as coach, her competitive cheerleading squad performed all-but-perfectly over two days to win a cheerleading national championship March 26 through 28 in Anaheim.
“We were nearly flawless on Friday, and then on Sunday we even did better,” senior captain Amy Nichols said.
Even Heywood was impressed.
“They hit all of their stunts in finals,” Heywood said. “There were no mistakes or flaws at all.”
The team qualified for Nationals the seventh year in a row by placing second in the Medium Show Novice Division last month in a meet at University of California, Davis.
In Anaheim, they had a stellar first day and took the lead Friday before acing their Sunday routine to win the title.
“It’s been kind of a hard year — we’ve had to change our routine a lot — but in the last month, we have pulled it together,” Heywood said.
“Nationals is what they basically work on all year,” the coach added. “It’s kind of like football’s Central Coast Section playoffs.”
Heywood, a 2000 SLV graduate, is calling it quits after 10 years coaching the cheerleading and competitive cheerleading teams at the school.
In May, she will open a cheerleading gym, Valley Elite All Stars, in Scotts Valley, to coach cheerleaders who aspire to try for college scholarships or continue cheerleading competitively.
Most of her team from the high school will follow her to the gym to keep training and competing, even though the cheerleading season is over.
“Their program goes 11 to 12 months,” Heywood said. “Every day is work for them, and they’ve come so far. It’s definitely an honor being their coach.”
The team is Faye Alvin, Allie Anderson, Krista Canton, Jenn Clinite, Nicci Foster, Brittany Knudson, Shannon Nelson, Amy Nichol, Abbie Peterson, Becca Saucier, Nichole Saucier, Vivienne Serrano, Deja Siordia, Amanda Smith and Haley Sovulewski.
