Arrupe Jesuit Wins First-Ever Game Day Cheer Title, Valor Christian Wins Fifth-Straight

DENVER – The 2023 season marked the second straight year in which both a multiple-time repeat champion and a first-time champion took home titles in the gameday disciplines at CHSAA’s Game Day Cheer State Championships.

This year’s multiple-time winner was, well, the same as it has been now many times before – Valor Christian. This year’s first-time champion was Arrupe Jesuit, the Generals winning it miraculously in what was also their first season with a cheer program.

In comparison to the game day dynasty that is Valor Christian, Arrupe Jesuit’s unlikely first title was made even more so by the fact that this was the school’s first season with any cheer program at all, and it was their first state championship of any kind in any activity.

“We are so thankful to God for this incredible blessing and this incredible season,” Generals head coach Mandi Lopez said. “This is Arrupe Jesuit’s first-ever cheerleading program. These kids have not had cheerleading before and they had no cheerleading experience. So back in June, we started practice and we started with the very basics of cheerleading. I quickly recognized potential so I started prepping them for competition season.

“It’s unexpected because we started from scratch in June and I just can’t believe these girls.”

Heading into its inaugural season, the Arrupe Jesuit team boasted just one single athlete with prior cheer experience. The rest had to learn and learned fast.

On Thursday night, the Generals entered the finals round with the highest preliminary score of any 3A/2A team. In their final routine of the season, they scored a 92.95 to take home the gold.

“Honestly, we just prayed a lot and we let God into our routines,” Generals senior Edith Villalpando Rivera said. “We were nervous, but we always just have fun out there and don’t really think about winning a trophy. We just work hard and stay together even if there are mistakes, and look where we’re at now.”

In 2A/3A, The Academy scored a 91.1 to finish runner-up after winning its own first-ever title at state last season. Florence was third with a score of 89.1, Lyons was fourth at 86.85, Swink was fifth at 85.2, Eaton was sixth at 83.85 and Byers was seventh at 82.3.

Back in 4A/5A, this year’s Valor Christian team claimed its program’s fifth straight trophy with a score of 95.7. The Eagles trailed Arapahoe following the day’s early preliminaries but put it all together in the finals to win.

“It’s completely amazing,” Eagles senior Mikaela Johnston said. “It’s absolutely God’s grace and God’s gift to us, and we just couldn’t be more proud of the entire team. God put this team together and we showed up today. That’s exactly what we wanted to happen, so I’m so proud of our team.”

The Broomfield Eagles were runners-up with a score of 94.15 in the finals.

Arapahoe, last season’s runner-up, was third with a score of 94, Cherry Creek was fourth at 93.35, Lutheran was fifth at 91.4, Regis Jesuit was sixth at 89.25, Smoky Hill was seventh at 99.95, Pueblo County was eighth at 88.25, Columbine was ninth at 87.25, Boulder was 10th at 87.15 and Doherty was 11th at 79.05.

The Eagles have now won every single title since gamey was established in 2019 and Valor Christian now has seven titles in its spirit program’s history.

“It’s such an honor to be able to do this with this amazing team,” Eagles head coach Kallyn Conner said. “I hope that we glorified God first and I hope we shined bright and that’s what we desire to do every single day.”