Spirit: Castle View, Coal Ridge, DSST: Cedar Win Co-Ed Cheer State Titles
Photo: Myla Stewart
DENVER – The Colorado High School Activities Association continued its 2025 Spirit State Championships on Friday with the All-Girl Cheer and Co-Ed Cheer competitions at the Denver Coliseum.
Alongside the All-Girl Cheer State Champions, each of the Co-Ed champions were repeat champions from a year ago, as DSST: Cedar captured the 2A/3A Co-Ed Cheer title for a second-straight year, Coal Ridge won 4A for an eighth-consecutive year, and Castle View took home the gold in 5A for a third-straight season.
DSST: Cedar’s victory in 2A/3A Co-Ed Cheer marks back-to-back state championships for the Falcons.
“You just come in with more confidence,” coach Sam Barton said. “I think you’re a little more relaxed. We worked on harder skills and really focusing on trusting ourselves, the team and the work that we put in. And they executed.
“We’ve had a hard week. There’s been some sickness and injury and neither routine was perfect. But they put their heart out there. I’m proud of them.”
DSST: Cedar scored 71.5 in the final, while Wiley was second at 68.2 and Alamosa third with 66.1
These two state titles mark the only state championships for the school, which also finished as runner-up in both 2022 and 2023.
“We only had one senior last year and the majority were first-year underclassmen,” Barton said. “It’s still a team that is half new. They’ve still got a lot to learn.”
Coal Ridge, second after the opening round, turned in a second-straight zero-deduction routine in the final and won its eighth straight championship in 4A co-ed cheer.
“There definitely is pressure (to keep the streak alive),” coach Alyssa Thurman said. “But we just make sure that we prepare them really well so that they feel comfortable coming in and they hit their routine.”
Coal Ridge scored 82.10 in the final, while Roosevelt was second with 77.35.
“I think it’s just hard work and team chemistry,” Thurman said. “This team was really awesome. We had 14 new kids on the team this year and only six returners. They just worked really hard and they did it.”
Castle View won its third straight title in the event, as well as for the fifth time in six years, and for the ninth time in the last 12 years.
“This means so much,” Castle View head coach Tatum Reel said. “To come back year-after-year and continue to deliver the same result is really hard. People say it’s hard to get to the top, but it’s really hard to stay at the top.
“They’ve had a really hard season… a lot of ups and downs and just a lot of things to go through. But they’ve come out stronger on the end of it every single time, including today… this is just the cherry on top to the season, honestly.”
The finals were tight, with Castle View scoring 88.25, second-place Highlands Ranch scoring 86.10 and third-place Pueblo West finishing at 85.80.
Competition will conclude tomorrow with dance, as performances will take place in jazz, poms and hip-hop. Routines will begin at 9 a.m., with finals scheduled to begin at 3:12 p.m.
