DENVER | Three Aurora area teams qualified for the finals of the Class 5A/4A Game Day Cheer competition Thursday at the Denver Coliseum and Cherokee Trail emerged with a state championship.
Coach Kelsey Goodson’s Cougars earned a score of 94.15 point in the final — which bettered its own 93.55 that was tops in the prelims — and cleared a field of nine finalists that also included area qualifiers in Smoky Hill and Vista PEAK Prep, which finished eighth and ninth, respectively.
It marked a successful pivot for Cherokee Trail, which made a late choice to compete the Game Day category instead of the traditional Cheer category it won last season.
“It was such a fun day; we knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I could tell in the warmup room that we were ready,” Goodson said. “They put in all the hard work and we were really, really ready to put our best on the floor. There’s nothing I could have said or done to make it any better. We performed to the best of our ability.”
Cherokee Trail now has six spirit championships in school history, as the program claimed three consecutive jazz competitions between 2019 and 2021 with Cheer titles in 2017 and 2023.
Smoky Hill and Vista PEAK Prep grabbed the final two spots in the championship finals and finished in that order as well in the finals and both improved on their semifinal showing in the process. The Buffaloes scored 84.95 on their first performance and 86.35 in the finals (just 0.05 of a point behind Northfield for seventh), while the Bison checked in at 83.65 in the semifinals and 84.2 in the finals.
Rangeview and Hinkley were also among the 37 teams in the competition.
Valor Christian secured hardware as well with a runner-up finish with a score of 93.7.
The state spirit competition continues through Saturday at the Denver Coliseum.
2024 CLASS 5A/4A GAME DAY CHEER CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
Team scores: 1. CHEROKEE TRAIL 94.15 points; 2. Valor Christian 93.7; 3. Broomfield 93.5; 4. Cherry Creek 93.3; 5. Arapahoe 91.2; 6. Liberty 87.7; 7. Northfield 86.4; 8. SMOKY HILL 86.35; 9. VISTA PEAK PREP 84.2
Other Aurora scores: 20. Rangeview 67.15; 37. Hinkley 44.65
— Sports Editor Courtney Oakes
