WARREN — Members of the John F. Kennedy High School cheerleading team are competing Saturday at a state cheer competition that they have won the past two years.

The 23-member team, which includes five seniors, six juniors, seven sophomores and five freshmen, had a sendoff Friday from the school with staff, students and parents in attendance.

Marian Mitolo Diana, coach of the team for the past 13 years, said the cheerleaders are competing at the Ohio High School Athletic Association Spirit State Cheerleading Championship at Wittenberg University in Springfield. The team is competing in Divisions 6 and 7.

“When you compete in the morning, there is preliminary competition with the top teams from the morning regional session competing in the finals in the afternoon,” Mitolo Diana said.

She said the event is “a game-day competition” with the team being judged on the cheering they would be doing on the football field.

“We will be looked at for crowd motivation, a band chant, a fight song, and how we get the crowd excited and cheering. This is what cheerleading teams would be doing on the sidelines of a football field,” Mitolo Diana said.

The team competes for three minutes at the regional contest in the morning and then if successful, will advance and do the same three-minute routine in the afternoon.

The JFK team has competed three previous times at the OHSAA event. The first year, in 2021, the team was first runner-up and in 2022 and 2023, the team placed first in both years.

“We are going there hoping for our third championship. We will know how we did Saturday afternoon,” Mitolo Diana said.

Several members of the team have competed at the event in past years, with one senior, Sadie Moore, having competed all four years.

“The team is very dedicated, and everyone wants to be here. The team wants this win,” Sadie said.

Grace Anderson, a senior and captain who has competed three years, said the team is very dedicated and will work to their full potential.

Halle Sersich, a senior and captain who has competed three years, said it was exciting to come back to the competition for a third year.

“The other teams will look at us as the past two-time state championship winners. We are going there with a new team, which is something to look forward to,” Halle said.

Jacqueline Morrison, a senior marking her first time competing, said she has heard the competition is very intense. She said she has competed at dance competitions and knows what those competitions are like.

“I have shifted my dance behavior to cheering, but cheerleading is very different. I have been trying to stay prepared and have a good mentality. I am excited for my first year. I am sure the team will do well. This is my first and last year of cheerleading here. This is the only time I can make the competitions. This is my one-time shot,” Jacqueline said.

Mitolo Diana said the whole competition focuses on how well the team gets the crowd involved.

She said the team winning first runner-up the first year motivated them to work very hard to then successfully win the next two years.

The school has had previous successful cheerleading teams, having earned in previous years five OASSA state championships. When OHSAA started, the teams competed under that group.

Mitolo Diana has seven state cheerleading championships under her belt.