HHS Cheer Will Take On State

In late February of 2024, the Hastings High School Cheer Team is going to state, held at Fonner Park in Grand Island, Nebraska.

 “I am excited to see them perform because I think they can do amazing things if they really put in the work,” assistant coach Kolby Kaiser said.

In order to participate in state cheer, teams have to sign up and compete against all classes. There are three competitions that teams can sign up for. At state, each team performs two dances and one cheer. 

‘I am most excited for our second dance,” senior Isabelle Cerveny said.

At the competition, they do a dance routine, then a cheer in between, and then another dance right after the cheer. A dance routine in cheer involves stunting, jumping, and tumbling, and music plays while they are dancing instead of teams cheering. This year, there are a lot of new cheerleaders on the team this year, and this will be their first experience going to state cheer. 

“I’m excited for the fact that all of us are new and it will be kind of a new experience for everyone,” Cerveny said,

One thing they aren’t excited about is the stress that comes with performing at state, such as the long day and the nerves that come with how intense the moment is going to be. Even though there are many stressful factors in preparing for the day, they are still excited for the first-time experience as a team. This year, there are going to be 12 girls who are going to state because two of them are unable to make it. 

“A lot of these girls are new to cheer so I think it will feel like a big accomplishment for them too,” Kaiser said.

The girls are evaluated by judges and then given points for their dance and cheer routines. After every school has competed, they tally up the points and determine the winner with the highest score. While they wait for state to approach, they will have a lot of other competitions where they will perform their state routines. 

“The best part of it is just all the excitement,” Cerveny said.

Cerveny cheered her sophomore year and then went out again during her senior year to make her last year in high school more enjoyable. 

“I thought it would be fun to go out again this year to make my senior year as enjoyable as possible,” Cerveny said.