Teams from Aurora schools brought home some quality hardware along with some encouraging performances from three days at the state spirit competition Dec. 8-10 at the Denver Coliseum.
The city’s haul included a pair of state championships from Cherokee Trail in the jazz category as well as Eaglecrest in the hip-hop competition, while the Grandview cheer team finished as the Class 5A all girls state runner-up.
Cherokee Trail has laid claim to three of the past four jazz state titles and coach Mia Brown’s team edged Mountain Vista to win a second straight. The Cougars scored 90.375 in the final (up from 89.6 in the prelims) to the 89.325 of the Golden Eagles.
Eaglecrest repeated as the state hip-hop champions with a score of 92.90 in the finals for a comfortable victory over Broomfield. The program now owns 14 all-time state titles, a total that includes three in the hip-hop category. Smoky Hill gave Aurora another presence in the finals and finished fifth.
The Grandview all girl cheer team finished as the 5A runner-up with its performance Dec. 9, which put it second for a second straight season. The Wolves received a score of 93 for their performance in the finals, which put them behind Douglas County, which earned a 94.1.
Aurora’s other finalist in the competition, Cherokee Trail, finished in sixth place.
A significant performance came from Aurora Central in the 4A cheer competition, as the Trojans earned their way into the finals. Coach Sarah Bennett’s team finished in front of 21 other teams in prelims with a score of 76.8 that earned it another performance.
In other results: Regis Jesuit and Grandview finished third and fourth in a tight 5A poms competition, while Rangeview finished fourth, Smoky Hill fifth and Regis Jesuit eighth in the 4A/5A gameday category.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
