Cheers All Round : Contest: In national cheerleading finals at UCI, 250 teams prove true to their schools.

Shaking their hands, heads and hips, Irvine High School cheerleaders danced in unison to a techno beat. Lifting each other on their shoulders and executing back flips with ease, the Vaqueros left their fans screaming.

“It’s the first time in a long time that we made it to the finals,” said Melissa McCoy, 17, hugging and squeezing her teammates. “We worked so hard to get here.”

Irvine High, winner of this year’s Southern California title, was among 180 schools that competed Saturday in the seventh annual United Spirit Assn.’s national championship at UC Irvine.

More than 250 teams participated in 16 divisions, covering various aspects of cheerleading, including song-leading, pep flag and mascot performance. Forty teams were from Southern California.

During the daylong competition, about 8,000 spectators wandered between the Bren Events Center and smaller Crawford Hall, the two competition sites.

Some teams solemnly marched single file and carefully positioned themselves before their performances began. Others came running out, shaking pompons, waving their arms and shouting their school name.

Once the routines began, the girls and a handful of boys displayed their athletic prowess. They formed human pyramids, tumbled and tossed each other in the air.

In the stands, some teams intensely studied the competition as they waited their turn. The girls’ faces were brightly colored with red lipstick and charcoal-colored eyeliner. Many wore ponytails or had their long hair rolled in small pink curlers.

Parents, relatives and friends of the performers filled the gym, and several roamed the stands, videotaping the event and taking photographs.

“I love cheerleading,” said Sue Parker of San Jose, whose two daughters competed. “It’s fresh and wholesome, and it keeps them out of drinking and drugs.”

“You really see how much more advanced the squads are getting,” said Dan Wilson, program director for the United Spirit Assn. “What might have won first place two or three years ago wouldn’t win today.”

Wilson credited national competitions and televised broadcasts for the increasing popularity of cheerleading. Saturday’s competition will be aired on cable TV April 8 and May 16.

Local teams did well. Among 35 finalists, there were six county teams. Marina High School of Huntington Beach placed among the top four in the “show” cheer category and a song-leading event. Mater Dei of Santa Ana placed in the “show” cheer competition for boy-girl teams and in large-school song-leading. Irvine High’s all-girl “show” cheer squad made it to the small-school finals. So did a team from Santa Margarita High.

“I was originally a gymnast,” said Kori Ebbing, one of Irvine High’s primary tumblers. “I wanted to get involved in high school, and cheerleading was it.”

The competitors were supported by cheering athletes from their schools, including Nick Luciani, 17, of Cerritos High, who carried a bouquet of red roses he wanted to give to his girlfriend.

“She’s been worried about the performance and doing good,” he said. “She’s been real irritable and under a lot of pressure.”

Wilson said that three teams came all the way from Canada and that cheerleading is becoming popular in Europe and Japan.