2015 Cheer State Competition
The senior high cheer team poses for a picture at the State Cheer Competition in December.
On December 19, the Gentry Senior High Cheer Squad competed in Hot Springs, Arkansas, at the state cheer competition. They performed their hardest and only had one “big” mistake. Sadly, they did not bring home the state or state runner-up title this year.
Senior Erika Magana said, “State went great and I have the best frontspot in the the whole state of Arkansas.”
Senior Sydney Hodges said, “State was so much fun this year! I think we performed better than we had at any of our other competitions. Even though we didn’t win, I know we tried our best and I couldn’t be more proud of us. I’m definitely going to miss everyone next year!”
It took almost a month for the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) to put the scores and placings on their website due to the miscalculations of many scores. There were 10 cheer squads that had miscalculations in their score, including a squad who won state and several squads named runner-up.
One other issue from the state cheer competition was the fact that the scores were very inconsistent. The Gentry team found out on Friday, January 15, that they placed 10th out of 14 teams for the 4A All-Girl division with a score of 221.50. At previous competitions throughout the season, the Pea Ridge Blackhawks, Shiloh Christian Saints, Gentry Pioneers, and Booneville Bobcats all had really close scores, but during state their scores weren’t close at all. For example, the Pea Ridge Blackhawks were named state champions for the 4A division with a score of 290.10. The Shiloh Christian Saints came in 4th place in the 4A division with a score of 256.90. The Booneville High School cheer squad was named state champions for the 3A division with a score of 323.90. This shows how the judges were very inconsistent when it came to the scores at state.
Gentry cheer coach Joni Wilson said, “I am extremely proud of the girls and how they performed at state and how they represented GHS. We had a bobble at the end of the routine that kept us from placing in the top 2. I was so proud of them though for having a great attitude, an excellent performance and for leaving it all on the mat. The 4A division was the largest in the state. It was a tough bracket to be in. We had a young squad this year with four freshmen and seven sophomores on the floor, and we will only be losing three seniors. This is a great group of girls on and off the mat. The future looks bright.”
After this big mess at the 2015 Arkansas Cheer State Competition, who knows what could happen for the next state competition coming up in 2016.
