KHS cheer 4th at Game Day state
KHS CHEER members who took fourth in the 4A Game Day state competition recently included Libbie Bamett, Payton Belair, Courtney Butts, Ashley Casillas, Jaelin Cortes, Amy Deatherage, Sara Delatorre, Makiah Dewberry, Katy Diedrich, Rylie Farrar, Gretchen G
The strides the Kingfisher High School cheer squad has made can not only be measured this year, but in the last week alone.
KHS finished fourth last Saturday at the OSSAA’s Class 4A Game Day state championships at Moore High School.
“These girls have worked so hard all summer to change the perception of the program,” said Canna Reagan, the program’s firstyear coach. She’s joined by Lori Burns in instructing the Lady Jackets.
“They are definitely on the right track.”
Kingfisher qualified for state with its ninth-place finish at the regional in Chickasha the week before (the top-15 teams of the 38 who competed in the regional move on to state).
Those 15 teams took to the mat at Moore and were judged on fight song, crowd leading and band dance in the preliminary round.
The six teams with the highest overall score from the preliminary round advanced to the final round.
KHS was fourth, meaning the Lady Jackets jumped five of the teams - Bethany, Pauls Valley, Mount St. Mary, Harrah and Broken Bow - that finished ahead of them in the regional.
The turnaround from the preliminary results to the finals competition was short.
“You have 10 minutes between rounds to make changes, add or change anything the judges commented on,” Reagan said. “Then you go out and do it again.”
In the final round, fight song and band dance are combined into one category and crowd leading is one by itself.
KHS earned 117 points in the first category and 121 in the second for a 238. Crossings Christian won its third straight title (two in 3A) with a 267.
Holland Hall was second with a 260 and Bridge Creek was third at 251.
Reagan said fourth out of the 38 initial teams made a strong statement.
“They did a fantastic job,” she said. “They are definitely on the right track. It’s been a fun ride so far and I look forward to what this journey has in store for us.”
The team competes in the cheer regional on Jan. 9.
Team members at Game Day state were Libbie Barnett, Payton Belair, Courtney Butts, Ashley Casillas, Jaelin Cortes, Amy Deatherage, Sara Delatorre, Makiah Dewberry, Katy Diedrich, Rylie Farrar, Gretchen Garrett, Ivy Hartman, Jessica Klepper, Anna Massey, Maggie McCully, Kylee Rojas, Harley Schlegel, Kari Shepard, Cami Snodgrass, Cora Taylor, Makenna Willson and Ali Womack.