All the moments lead up to this. The long hours of practice, the game day routines and cheers, all for a five-minute routine in front of six judges and a crowd of thousands. 

On Dec. 8, the varsity cheer team competed against 26 teams in the Semifinals for the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) 5A All-Girls Cheer.

“Practices leading up to State were tiring yet worth it,” varsity flyer and tumbler Jaidyn Shirley ‘24 said. “Many days we had two practices a day for hours.” 

The team’s goal was to place in the top six to get them to the final round. Last year, the team did not advance to Finals after two falls.

I was super proud of our team after making the Finals because it showed all of our hard work had paid off,” varsity base and back spot Emerson Lindsley ‘25 said. “No matter what the outcome was, we were really hoping to put out a strong Semis routine in order to have a spot in Finals, and that’s exactly what we did!” 

In the Semifinals, the team hit all their stunts and executed their routine perfectly, placing them in first. They headed into Finals with a score of 93.45 and zero deductions, placing them almost three points ahead of the second-place team, Chaparral High School, who had a score of 90.65. 

“Our team was ecstatic about performing an amazing routine in prelims and heading into finals in first place,” Shirley said. 

In Finals, however, the team fell in one of their partner stunts, causing a two-point deduction. 

“I think we were all pretty upset and frustrated,” varsity base Swithi Velpuri ‘24 said. “ We went into Finals in first place by three points, which is quite a large margin for a cheer [competition]. I think we all had really high hopes and knew that if we hit, we would win. Unfortunately, mistakes happen and it just wasn’t our year, but there’s nothing we can do to change the outcome.” 

The team’s raw score was 92.9, which would have placed them ahead of the 5A winners, Cherokee Trail High School, who had a winning score of 91.5. However, due to the fall during their routine, the Jaguars placed fourth, with a score of 90.9. 

“The outcome wasn’t exactly how we hoped it would be, however, we put in so much work within the week prior, so it wasn’t the best feeling,” varsity base Shea Thompson ‘25 said. “I think we are all looking forward to Nationals in February.”

Next up, the varsity cheer team is heading to Nationals, which takes place Feb. 7 to 13 at the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) World Wide of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL. 

“I am very proud of the team with both performances we put on at state,” Lindsey said. “Going into Nationals, we plan to make upgrades to our routine to make it more difficult and ensure us amazing performances!” 

Gallery • 6 Photos

media by Abigail Wood

Varsity flyers Jaidyn Shirley '24, Catherine Stith '26 and Sienna Hanley '27 celebrate in the pyramid after finishing the cheer routine during the preliminary round at the Denver Coliseum Dec. 8. They placed in the top six after not making Finals last year due to two drops in the routine. This year, the team scored the highest points out of all six teams during Prelims, however, the team's score in Finals placed them fourth. "We did very well at State and I'm super proud of how far this team has come," cheerleader Payton Shank '25 said. "Competing with these girls has been a privilege and seeing all our hard work showed made everyone very happy. State is not the end of our story, it's just the middle, so we are motivated to work even harder for Nationals."