Warrenton high school cheerleading coach Tyleah Patterson had a dream.
The dream started at a young age. While she spent her early years in elementary and middle school in Warrenton, she moved briefly to Portland in high school. With a background in dancing, she was drawn to cheerleading there, an activity unavailable to her in Warrenton.
“I remember being disappointed that Warrenton High School didn’t have a cheer team,” Patterson said via email. “I told myself that if the program still did not exist when I was older, I would do my best to change it.”
After starting her cheerleading and coaching career in Portland, Patterson returned home to the North Coast determined to fulfill her personal goal of reviving the Warrenton cheer program.
There was a time when Warrenton had a cheerleading team, but it was not active when Patterson was growing up. She said there had not been a cheerleading program there for more than 30 years.
While she was determined to change that, Patterson found that bringing back the program was not an easy task. She spent more than a year advocating for it before the school acquiesced.
Patterson made her dream come true. She is now in her 10th year as a cheerleading coach — and it’s her eighth year as head of the cheerleading team.
Making it all come true
Once the program was given the go-ahead, Patterson had to start from scratch. Since there had been no cheerleading program at Warrenton for over three decades, the program started out as a club. This meant the team spent its early years building up numbers, demonstrating commitment and establishing its value to both the school and the community.
“Over time, we grew into a recognized sport,” Patterson said. “In the 2021-22 school year, we took another major step by entering our first competitive season rather than focusing exclusively on sideline cheer.”
Competitive cheerleading is a structured athletic sport where teams perform high-energy, 2.5-minute choreographed routines consisting of tumbling, stunting, pyramids, jumps, and dance.
The Warriors made their mark in the sport right out of the gate. They won first place in the 2022 Oregon Cheerleading Coaches Association cheer championships, placed third in 2023 and got second in the 2025 competition. In addition, the Warriors cheer program has seen its athletes recognized as all-Americans by the Universal Cheerleaders Association. They’ve also received college recruitment opportunities and have competed for highly selective teams, such as All-State.
In addition to building the high school cheer program, Patterson has organized a number of youth clinics introducing younger children to cheerleading. Patterson enlisted the help of Celeste Kenneally of Warrenton Kids Incorporated to establish a youth cheer program. It serves as a bridge, connecting younger athletes with the high school team.
It’s a family, say Warrenton cheerleaders
The current Warrenton cheer squad for the 2026 fall season consists of 12 athletes. The captain is senior Anuhea Gafal. The rest of the team members are: Saw Cowan; Lily Malvony; Jax Pierce; Lilly Peel; Teagan Secord; Aurora Holloway; Natalia Nearing; and Jannat Ring.
Gafal, who said she has only been cheerleading for three years, was drawn to the sport in part because of the camaraderie. “There were seniors I really admired and the program was really strong,” Gafal said. “The program is close knit and coach Patterson is really supportive.”
Kornder said she was inspired by her older cheerleading sister, Sarah, to give cheerleading a shot.
“When I was in third grade, coach Celeste Kenneally started Warrenton Kids Inc.,” Kornder said via email. “When I saw it, I told my mom to sign me up so I could be just like my sister.”
Kornder said her sister Sarah continues to be an inspiration.
“Out of everyone I’ve watched, my sister Sarah inspires me the most,” Kornder said. “She always powers through everything that is stopping her and never lets obstacles stop her from trying to achieve her goals.
“… I got to watch her improve a lot, not just at her motions, but at jumps, tumbling, facials. You name it, Sarah most likely had it.”
The one word that coach Patterson, Gafal and Kornder all used to describe the Warrenton cheerleading program is: “Welcoming.” Gafal recalls how the seniors helped her through a lot of “the nerves” she was feeling during her first year as a cheerleader.
“The seniors at that time would have us do the Hokey Pokey as a way to break the ice,” Gafal said.
As the current captain, she says her leadership style is in taking initiative and helping others. For example, if she notices someone having trouble picking up a part of the routine, she will help them out anyway she can.
For Kornder, the positive and welcoming environment has been a welcome change. She had quit cheerleading, but decided to give it another try.
“When I first started in July, I was so scared because I didn’t know what it would be like, but the team was so welcoming and nice about everything,” Kornder said. “As a freshman on the team I’ve learned so much more than I ever have.”
Kornder also credited cheerleading for helping her to grow as a person.
“I was a lonely little kid who had no confidence before I started cheerleading,” Kornder said. “Throughout the years I spent with Coach Celeste on her team, it helped me build the confidence I have now.”
Cheerleading pluses
For young kids, every sport can offer a plethora of benefits, cheerleading included.
According to Patterson, confidence and leadership, teamwork and trust, discipline and resilience, time management and commitment and belonging or connection — all can be gained through cheerleading.
“I have seen how meaningful that sense of belonging can be,” Patterson said. “Some athletes come to cheer after trying other sports, while others are simply looking for a group where they feel comfortable and accepted. At Warrenton, everyone feels like a family.”
Cheers (and pushups) fire up the fans
For Warrenton, crowd favorite cheers include: Warrior Power, Trucking and Warrior Beat. “One of my personal favorites is ‘Hey Cheerleaders!’ because it gives us the chance to interact directly with our fans.”
In addition, the cheerleaders will sometimes throw out “spirit sticks” filled with candy, shirts and other fun prizes as a way to reward enthusiastic fans. One other popular cheer is called “Pushups for Touchdowns.” This cheer happens every time Warrenton scores a touchdown. The cheerleaders do pushups that correspond with the number of points Warrenton has on the scoreboard, while the crowd counts out each one. For example, if the Warriors score 21 points, the cheerleaders will do 21 pushups consecutively.
During Friday’s game against Amity, however, the score became so high — 53, Warriors, 6, Amity — that the cheerleaders were relieved of that performance.
Final words of cheer
Patterson hopes to see cheerleading continue to grow as a sport across Clatsop County.
“I have always joked of a Clatsop County cheer takeover, so watching local schools bring back their high school cheer teams and seeing youth programs delvelop has been incredibly exciting.
“When I started advocating for cheerleading at Warrenton, my goal was to bring back something I wished I had experienced when I was a student here,” Patterson said. “I never wanted it to be a team that showed up (just) for games. … I wanted to build a program where athletes could grow, challenge themselves, find their people and take pride in representing their community.
“We are building something bigger than a single season or single team. We are building a tradition that I hope future generations of Warriors will continue to carry forward.”