For the second consecutive year, the Bremerton High School cheerleading squad will compete in the state cheer championships.

“Last year our goal was to get to state, that really was our focus, but it wasn’t to place at state,” third-year coach Kara Lindberg said. “They just wanted the opportunity to prove they could compete.”

With that point proved and a year of experience under its belt, the 18-member squad hopes to one-up its performance from 2009. It will compete in the girls large division, comprised of 10 teams who will have 2 minutes, 30 seconds to perform a routine.

The Knights have been working on their routine since August and had help choreographing it, meaning expectations are higher than ever.

The team put the finishing touches on the routine this week.

“This year it’s all about placing at state, where they have the ability and potential to actually take home a trophy,” Lindberg said. “The mindset has changed.”

Cheer squads competing at state must perform a routine that includes no more than 1 minute, 30 seconds of music and can’t run beyond two-and-a-half minutes overall.

The Knights’ routine, Lindberg said, is up-tempo, high-energy and combines both music and cheer. They performed it at recent competitions at Klahowya Secondary School, Peninsula High School and Juanita High School.

A video clip of the routine even made it online to www.youtube.com.

“It’s very crowd interactive and it’s fast-paced, very fast paced,” Lindberg said. “It’s a good, but difficult, routine.”