DENVER — Going into Saturday night’s final round of the State Spirit Championships, four points and two teams stood between the Class 5A cheer squads from four-place Rock Canyon and first-place Grandview.
And, at the end of the night, a fully executed routine by Rock Canyon sealed the 5A state title for its third time in the last four years.
“Having their hard work pay off is a phenomenal feeling and I’m unbelievably proud of them,” said Rock Canyon coach Amanda Mundaca.
By hitting a clean, solid routine, the Jaguars overcame an overwhelming four point deficit, performing skills such as switch-up pull throughs, one-and-a-half ups, inverted twisting variations, high-to-high full arounds, and impressive squad tumbling.
There is an clearly an incredible amount of difficulty within the routine, which was a major contribution to the errors made during prelims on Day 1.
All coaches deal with the deduction sheet differently, but Mundaca made the executive decision to keep everything the same heading into Day 2 and with lots of encouragement, teamwork, and motivation. The Jaguars were able to come together as one and perform a routine that will forever be remembered.
“It was just amazing to put something on the mat that we could be proud of,” said senior captain Schyler Geck.
The Jaguars finished with a score of 92.4. Eaglecrest (88.9) finished second, while Grandview (86.3) was third. Chaparral (85.8) was fourth.
Alongside Mundaca, stood Geck and the three other seniors on the team when Rock Canyon won its first State Championship back in 2012. With the Jaguar’s most recent accomplishment, these upcoming graduates can add another ring to their collection.
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
“I couldn’t be prouder to end their senior year with another state championship so it’s an awesome send off for them,” said Mundaca.
Even though the Jaguars will lose their four seniors next year, a great amount of returning talent will remain on the team and Mundaca hopes to continue this win streak next year by “coming out and hitting another clean routine.”
Coming off of last year’s streak-breaking sixth place finish, the Jaguars stayed determined and motivated throughout their entire season. On top of the traditional gameday situations, Mundaca consistently held five practices per week in order to properly prepare the team for State.
Throughout the season, the Jaguars have developed a growing passion for the team and its routine. The results made everything pay off for all of the time and energy that each individual athlete has put into it.
“I’m glad we could end with a bang and leave it all on the mat and I’m also happy that I could leave the team knowing that I did everything I could for them,” said Geck.
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Notables
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Five teams successfully defended championships from a season ago: Vail Christian (2A pom), St. Mary’s (2A/3A co-ed), Castle View (4A/5A co-ed), Cherry Creek (5A pom), and Monarch (hip-hop). Vail Christian’s title was an astonishing sixth-straight, while Castle View has now won three-straight championships.
Strasburg rebounded from losing a teammate to a serious injury in warmups to finish second in 2A/3A co-ed.
Highland ended Cheyenne Wells’ run of three-straight titles by winning 2A cheer. Cheyenne Wells finished third, while Swink was runner-up.
Coal Ridge (cheer) and University (pom) took home championships in 3A.
Valor Christian (cheer) and Wheat Ridge (pom) were crowned in 4A.
Ponderosa won the Jazz championship, edging out defending champion Mountain Vista.
DENVER — In the world of high school cheerleading, four athletes are used in a majority of all-girl stunt sequences while 12 athletes are required to perform any variation of a flipping pyramid.
Friday marked what is believed to be the first time in the history of CHSAA’s State Spirit Championships that a team consisting of only two athletes took the mat. This rare occurrence was done by the Bayfield cheer squad under the instruction of coach Aimee Whitney during the preliminary round.
“I am so proud of them and it took a lot of courage for them to go out there and perform on their own,” said Whitney.
The two Bayfield cheerleaders partnered up to perform stunts such as the shoulder sit, cartwheel on thighs, and thigh stands. Although these skills lack difficulty, the Wolverines still managed to earn a top-10 finish out of the twenty teams that performed in Class 3A Cheer — with every other team having, at minimum, a full stunt group.
A standard cheer routine is split up into three sections: two music portions, and the cheer. The purpose of the cheer is to engage the crowd while using props such as signs, megaphones, and poms — all in hopes of getting a reaction from the crowd. With a team of two, one could imagine how hard it would be to make your voice be heard throughout the entire Denver Coliseum.
With the support of an injured teammate, proud parents, and the entire dance team, the Wolverines yelled with pride and proudly represented Bayfield High School.
From start to finish, the two competitors gave it their all. After stepping off the mat, captain Kaitlyn Gosey described the feeling as “satisfying, relieving, and fun.”
After previously being a part of the Bayfield dance team, the two made the transition to the cheer team. This was both of the competitors’ first time competing at State as cheerleaders.
“They’re two great performers and it was just about representing Bayfield and not giving up on our season,” said Whitney.
At the start of the season, there were a total of 11 cheerleaders on the team. But through injuries, and other reasons, only four remain. (One of the four is injured, and another wasn’t able to attend on Friday.)
Whitney has come to terms with how difficult it was losing over half of her team over the course of the year, but also recognizes their dedication and hard work.
The Bayfield cheer program is grateful for this year’s experience at State but also has high hopes for the years to come.
“Hopefully we’ll have a much bigger team,” Whitney said. “We’re going to try and build our team back up again and hopefully compete in co-ed.”
Six divisions completed their preliminary rounds on Friday, advancing teams to Saturday night’s finals. Saturday will also bring more preliminary rounds in the morning and afternoon. (Find a schedule here.)
In 2A Cheer division, out of twenty teams that competed, Cheyenne Wells, Highland, Swink and Dove Creek will all be moving onto Day 2 of the State Championships. Cheyenne Wells holds the a strong lead with an overall score of 75.2. Highland (70.4) and Swink (69.4) trail by about 5 points. Dove Creek sits at 65.1 going into Saturday’s championships.
Scores are much tighter in the 3A Cheer division with Coal Ridge (73.1) holding a 0.4 point lead on Faith Christian who sits at 72.7. James Irwin Charter (71.7) and The Academy (70.4) are also in the running, and with these four teams’ scores being this close, a lot can change with placings depending on Saturday’s execution in routines.
With only 12 teams competing in the 2A/3A coed division, only two teams have advanced to the final round. St. Mary’s currently holds the highest score in the 2A/3A division at 77.8. With almost a 10-point deficit, Strasburg trails with a score of 67.9.
Six finalists advanced out of the 5A Cheer division, with Grandview (86.9) leading the way among Eaglecrest (86.5), Chaparral (84.2), Rock Canyon (82.9), Fossil Ridge (82.2) and Loveland (80.6).
In 4A Cheer, there were four teams grouped closely at the top among the eight finalists. Wheat Ridge (79.9) holds a slight edge on Glenwood Springs (79.7), with Palmer Ridge (78.7) and Thompson Valley (78.2) close behind. Erie (75.3), Lewis-Palmer (74.9), Valor Christian (73.2) and Ponderosa (70.2) also advanced.
The 4A/5A coed division also had eight finalists, with Castle View (83.5) and Mountain Vista (82.5) leading the group. Other finalists include Vista Ridge (79.3), Heritage (76.5), Skyline (76.2), Fruita Monument (75.7), Falcon (74.4) and Palisade (73.3).
As spirit squads from across the state take the Denver Coliseum floor over Friday and Saturday, the Cherry Creek Bruins are ready to defend the state championship they won last year.
The Bruins are undefeated in competition so far this year, most notably Centennial League champions. A league that has had a lot of success in poms competition. Three of the four finalists last year in the poms division came from the Centennial League.
The Bruins also know the work it requires to win a state title.
“We’re working our absolute hardest,” senior Talia Shafer said. “(We are) making sure that everyone on the team is putting in 110 percent all the time and trying to beat ourselves and not worry about anyone else to reach our goal.”
Maturity and experience will also help out the Bruins this season. With many returning dancers the Bruins know the stage they are about to take. Nerves will play a factor into any performance but the Bruins are not going to let their nerves get the better of them.
“Nerves are always a good thing to boost our energy and pump adrenaline,” Shafer continued. “We just try to talk to each other and stay in the moment.”
In the preliminary stage the Bruins will take the floor at 1:30 to look to defend their title.
Things are already heating up for the two-time Class 4A/5A co-ed cheer state champions from Castle View.
Coach Heather Acampora was quite pleased after her team’s huge accomplishment in December, but her drive for success is at its peak and the Sabercats are back for more.
Castle View won the 4A/5A co-ed cheer championship last season. (Whitney Webermeier/CHSAANow.com)
With just under two months of announcing the Sabercats’ 2016-17 cheer squad, the preparation for competition season began. Aside from the standard summer practices almost every high school cheer team endures, Castle View goes above and beyond in this area.
“During the summer, each team does strength and conditioning with the school three times a week and they also do tumbling twice a week, so they’re not really off,” Acampora said.
The Sabercats journey to competition season is not limited to just this, they also attended a Masters camp hosted by the biggest cheerleading company around, Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA). It was here the Sabercats found themselves working with some of the best coaches in the country — including members from Team USA and top cheerleading athletes from various colleges.
The Sabercats didn’t only get the chance to work with these incredibly knowledgeable cheerleading instructors, they also had the opportunity to work with Blake Johnson, a VIROC choreographer. The team was given its routine in June, and Johnson used his cheerleading intellect to create what would best fit the Sabercats needs — which is valued at about four thousand dollars.
“They have been given the best and hardest routine I’ve ever seen for a high school team. It was designed to meet the score sheet and help our kids,” said Acampora.
The Sabercats have ambitious plans for this season and are truly pushing their limits. They will be performing predominantly college-level skills such as unassisted co-ed full up to hands, partner four high to high full arounds, low-to-high ticks — and on the tumbling side of things, select standing and running fulls.
Castle View lost three major leaders from the previous season and Acampora is well aware that this season will be different without them. The focus now is leadership training and of course, crowd leading.
“There are a lot of teams stepping up that are going to be great this year,” said Acampora.
But the confidence she has in her team is at an all time high and with the team’s dedication, drive, and minimal amount of switching stunting positions. They are expecting a smooth ride on the way to State.
The team will perform its routine several times in front of a crowd leading up to the big day come December, Castle View will be hosting a competition Oct. 22, and the team is also enrolled in UCA Regionals in Pueblo (gameday squad), UCA Regionals in Denver (competition squad), league, and an exhibition at an all-star gym.
Castle View is hungry, and so are many other high school cheerleading programs. The Sabercats have remained undefeated the past two years and in just under four months, Colorado will see if they are going to three-peat.
