State spirit: Six more teams earn titles in poms, hip-hop, and jazz on final day
COLORADO SPRINGS — A jam packed weekend of Colorado high school spirit competition concluded Saturday night, as six more teams earned some hardware on the final day of the 2021 state spirit championships at the Broadmoor World Arena.
Competing on the final day were the 2A, 3A, 4A and 5A poms divisions, as well as the unclassified hip-hop and jazz competitions.
2A & 3A Poms
The Poms team at Sanford had quite a ten-year run from 1995-2005, winning titles in ‘95, ‘96, ‘99, ’01 and ’05. But it had been some time since the program finished a state championship on top until the drought came to an end on Saturday night.
At The Broadmoor World Arena when Sanford scored an 83.95 in the Class 2A Poms finals to claim its first title in 16 years.
“We’re a really small school, there’s only seven of us on our team, and we’ve never taken state as a team before so it’s just special since we’re such a small school,” junior captain Peyton Willett explained. “Once we took second in the first round, that gave us a lot of hope that we might actually take first in the finals, and we did it.”
Defending champion West Grand finished runner-up with a score of 80.95 and Clear Creek was third with a score of 79.325.
For the second time in three seasons, the Aspen pom team are the 3A state champions. After winning their first title in program history in 2019, the Skiers are back on top after posting a finals score of 87.7.
“We won two years ago, and got third last year, so we were out for blood,” head coach Maddy Miller exclaimed. “This team has so much heart, and we just said go out there and you have one shot at these two minutes and just do the best you can and enjoy this moment. They really wanted this and they did it.”
They held off defending state champion University, who posted an 84.55 to take second place. The Bulldogs had put together a bit of a dynasty in the classification, as they won three of the last five titles.
In third was the SkyView Academy, who posted their fourth-straight top-three performance. They were the state runner-up each of the last three seasons, to University last season and 2018, and Aspen in 2019. The Hawks finished with a finals score of 83.025.
4A & 5A Poms
On Saturday night at The Broadmoor World Arena, the Roosevelt spirit team accomplished none that came before it could.
With a breakthrough routine, the Roughriders scored a 94.05 to claim the Class 4A Poms state championship. It was the program’s first Poms title, and a satisfying one at that.
The defending champion Erie Tigers, who won four straight All-Girl Cheer title and won their first Poms title last season, were runners- up with a score of 93.4. The Standley Lake Gators, who last won a Poms title in 2018, finished third with a score of 87.95.
Wheat Ridge was fourth with a score of 87.05, Riverdale Ridge was fifth at 83.925 and Eagle Valley was sixth with an 81.325.
In 5A, Rock Canyon went back-to-back, winning the title with a huge finals score of 96.425, finishing more than three points of second place Cherry Creek.
For the Jaguars, it is the program’s fifth pom title, as well as the school’s ninth overall spirit title, which ties it for the fifth-most all-time.
The Bruins finished runner-up to the Jags for the second-straight season, as they scored a 93.375 in the finals. They remain with eight all-time team spirit titles, which makes them tied for ninth in the state.
Rounding out the 5A finalists, ThunderRidge took third with a 93.175, Regis Jesuit fourth with a 92.225, Grandview fifth with a 91.875, and Castle View sixth with a 91.45.
Hip-Hop & Jazz
The Broadmoor World Arena has been kind to Eaglecrest this weekend, as the spirit program won its second title in as many days with a win in the hip-hop event. The Raptors followed up their all-girl cheer championship last night with a 95.625 in the finals tonight to capture their second hip-hop championship in three seasons.
Eaglecrest also set the new standard for overall spirit championships, as the 13 team titles all-time is the most of any other school in the state.
“Our spirit program at Eaglecrest is so strong, we have a really really good camaraderie with the cheer program and cheer coaches,” Head Coach Cayla Warneke said. “We support each other, that’s what good spirit programs are supposed to do. My team this year, all year we talk about being relentless and mentally strong, and I’m just so proud of what they pulled out in the finals tonight.”
Behind them were Prairie View, who finished with a finals score of 92.675 to take its first runner-up finish in program history. It is the first top-two finish in any spirit event for the Thunderhawks in its history.
In third came the defending hip-hop champions, Broomfield, who scored a 92, while behind them were Arapahoe with a 91.55, Fruita Monument with an 88, and Fossil Ridge with an 86.45.
In both the prelim and finals routines for the Cherokee Trail jazz squad, you could see the focus and determination on each of the girls faces. It all paid off, as the Cougars won their second title in three seasons with a huge finals score of 96.525.
The title was made even sweeter after a runner-up finish last season.
They edged out the defending state champions, Mountain Vista, who finished just behind them with a 96.125. In third came Chaparral, who finished with a finals score of 91.425.
