Last Thursday the Holy Family Cheer team competed at CHSAA’s state spirt competition. Despite all odds they made finals and placed 10 among the top 5a schools. But why is this so important?
Last season the Holy Family Cheer team didn’t even go to state. They ended a hard season with just four athletes. The team knew it would be a huge fight to make finals in state this season. Lead by Spirt Directory Monique Dominguez and assistant coach Ally Merrion they have been working around the clock to put out strong routines. At the beginning of the season Dominguez made the decision to put the team in the 4a/5a game-day division. A division that had 44 amazing teams. The tigers faced off against these teams as the smallest team. With just ten athletes they knew they would have to work hard to make state finals.
The morning of Thursday the eleventh they were reminded how capable they were by there coaches but they knew they would have to fight and put the best routine they could so they could see the state final floor. A floor that only the top eleven teams would compete on. The girls put out a strong routine that they hit with zero deductions. They then waited for the final results. As they sat in the colosseum that day they waited to see what there fate would be. Then around 4:30 pm the announcer said that their team would make finals. They erupted in excitement because they knew all of their hard work had paid off. They had accomplished their season long goal, to make state finals. After that a new goal arose, to place in the top 10. This would now be even harder because they now were competing against the top 5a schools like Cherry Creek and Arapahoe. They hit a second routine with zero deductions that landed them in the top ten. Their second goal had been accomplished.
The cheerleaders were not only the smallest team in 5a but also one of only two 4a teams that made state finals. This is a huge accomplishment. Here is what competition captain Araiya Herrera had to say about this, “I’m very proud of our team. We did push really hard, and our goal was to make finals. So this is a win for us because we made it to finals and in 4a we most definitely won, but 5a was a tough atmosphere but we pushed through and prevailed. I’m so proud that we got we got that far and seeing our whole team happy was the best feeling ever.”
