DENVER – For the second straight season, the Rock Canyon spirit team is Colorado’s Class 5A poms champion.
On Saturday at the Denver Coliseum, the Jaguars scored an 88.65 in the finals to claim the 5A title in the poms discipline once again and add an 11th spirit title to their trophy case.
“I think that when you’re trying to defend your title, you always train with a different level of pressure,” Rock Canyon coach Christina Leone said. “We’ve been saying all year that it’s one thing to win, but it’s another thing to defend. This is one of my favorite teams that I’ve ever coached in my 21 years of coaching. They’re all heart and they just have so much trust and love for each other. It just makes it that much more special when a team that deserves it on the inside gets recognition on the outside.”
Cherry Creek was runner-up in 5A with a finals score of 87.55.
4A Pom
In Class 4A, Roosevelt claimed its fourth-straight poms title with a finals score of 91.775.
“This is our program’s fourth-straight title, and they never stop working hard for it. It’s never like they think it’s in their hands,” Roosevelt head dance coach Brittany Coleman said. “We have all of these amazing teams pushing us, striving to make us better, and we just try to always rise to the challenge. They never settle. I’m just so proud as a coach; I’m more proud of what they put on the floor than anything.”
Holy Family finished runner-up with a finals score of 90.5 points.
2A/3A Pom
In Class 2A/3A, University took home the first-place trophy with a finals score of 84.4 points. It was the Bulldogs’ sixth pom title and seventh overall spirit championship.
“We have a lot of new team members, so we’ve been working hard just to teach them about the style of poms,” University coach Gina Shepard said. “They’ve just been working so hard and the past week or two, they’ve just lived and breathed poms. I’m just so proud of them. Even between this morning and this afternoon, we got our critiques and we worked so specifically.
“I’m just happy that it all paid off.”
Aspen was runner-up with a score of 84.15.