The Moanalua cheerleading team changed its routine from a week ago and wound up nailing it Saturday.

For Sacred Hearts senior Melina O’Reilly, there were tears of happiness during her team’s performance and even more after it claimed victory.

Moanalua won the large division and Sacred Hearts repeated in the medium division at the Zippy’s/HHSAA State Cheerleading Championship at the Neal Blaisdell Center.

Moanalua scored 520 points in the five-team large division (12-20 squad members). Mililani, the two-time defending division champion, placed second with 511 and Punahou was third with 477.

“We had to make a lot of changes from our last competition, but we were able to get to a point where they were calm,” said first-year Na Menehune coach Kaycee Kealoha. “They were super confident today and they knew what they had to do and they got it done.”

In its previous competition, Moanalua finished second to Mililani in the OIA championships.

Kealoha, an assistant the previous three years, said she felt the need to move things around to make her team feel more comfortable.

“It was a lot of changes from the beginning till the end, but this team has been cheering for a while so they know what to do and how to work with changes and we got it down in a couple of days, maybe three,” said senior Kamalani Newman.

Sacred Hearts successfully defended its title, finishing with 513 points in the 16-team medium division (11 or fewer squad members). Baldwin was second with 507 and Waimea placed third with 491.

“It’s just unreal. I feel at the beginning, we were starting from scratch,” said Lancers coach Cadey Vakauta. “To make it to the state championship and win it, I mean, it’s unreal.”

O’Reilly, the Sacred Hearts senior, actually got emotional while on the mat.

“I was a little bit scared before we went on, but I think that’s just nerves,” she said. “When we hit, I was so happy and I was crying when we were dancing. I was so happy.”

Vakauta, in her fourth year as coach, was a cheerleader for Sacred Hearts before graduating in 2011.

“I’m so happy I was able to help them out and bring recognition to our small Catholic school in Waialae,” she said.

Each team was allotted two minutes, 30 seconds of performance time. The routines primarily consisted of tumbling runs, basket tosses, pyramid formation, dance and cheer/chant.

Before the final results were read off, the University of Hawaii cheerleaders and the Hawaii Pacific acrobatics &tumbling team and cheerleaders performed for the crowd.

The Moanalua roster included Logan Agcaoili, Autumn Arnold, Emma Rose Estacio, Nicole Lauro, Ashley Manz, Kamalani Newman, Lacey Wilson-Pena, Abrie Prinea, Bailey Prinea, Chadie Shiraishi, Jazlynn Tam and Kitanna Torres.

The Sacred Hearts roster consisted of Kammiee-Marie Ardo, Cayla-Ann Cabanban, Alissa De Smet, Lexy Freitas, Kayla Oka, Melina O’Reilly, Bailey Saito-Ho, Jacelyn Tanuvasa and Megan Valente.