Hopes are high for two local cheer squads as they head to Albuquerque for the high school state spirit championships Friday at The Pit, while another is looking to gain some experience to make a big push for next season.
Española Valley
Coach Tatiana Quintana is looking forward to the state competition as the Sundevils have shined so far, this season.
“This has been one of our best seasons since I started coaching here and this is my fifth year here,” she said. “Since I’ve been coach at Española Valley, this is the strongest team that we’ve had so far.”
Unlike previous seasons, this year’s group was large to begin with and now carries 23 athletes.
“That’s really great for us,” Quintana said. “So in terms of competition and getting on the mat for state, it’s always really nice when you have more athletes because the more you have, the more you have to work with and the more you can do.”
Cheer actually starts during the late spring and continues through March so it’s sometimes hard to keep the numbers up.
“Cheer is probably the longest sport in all of the sports and that’s the biggest thing in terms of participation,” she said. “Because we have such a larger squad, we can pick and choose the strengths that the athletes have and use them at their strongest areas.”
The Sundevils are also starting to accumulate some continuity, with several of the athletes returning for their second and third seasons.
“I’ve had kids the past three years who started with me and now they’re juniors and sophomores,” Quintana said. “It’s just really nice when they stick around. That really helps us build and maintain the program and establish the strength in our program.”
Senior Natalia Padilla, juniors Daniel Purdy, Kiara Salinas, Amber Martinez and Jordan Martinez, as well as sophomore tumblers Melayah Duran and Nevaeh Ortega are helping push the program forward, she said.
And after finishing 11th last season, the goal is to make a big leap this year, Quintana said.
“I tell my kids all the time, be strong and create strong, exciting memories with their teammates and to feel like winners for themselves,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you get a trophy. If all the hard work for the past 11 months feels like it’s worth it, then it’s worth it. But this is the strongest they’ve been in a while. I have a lot of belief they’re going to do really well. Hopefully we will be in the top five. We do compete in a very competitive division. Class 4A is very intense. But if they’re able to go out and have fun and feel like winners within themselves and the team, that’s enough for me.”
McCurdy
The Bobcats have been fighting an uphill battle almost from the start of the season, as the original head coach and an assistant coach left the program in September and the original 17-member squad has been whittled down to nine.
“We’ve had quite a rough year,” coach Sabrina Valdez said. “But the team has been very resilient. We’ve had to change our routines multiple times, but we’ve made it work. Going into Spirit Week, it’s very stressful, but I’m so proud that they’ve stuck together and rolled with the punches. Anything that’s come their way, they’ve made the best of it.”
In particular, the pyramid build during the Cheer With Music competition has been reworked to suit the level of the team.
“We went from a very intense pyramid to a very basic pyramid to make sure that we hit all the benchmarks on the score sheets,” Valdez said. “It definitely hurt the girls to go from such a dynamic pyramid and to see other teams doing other cool things and they were discouraged, but I try to remind them that we’re a little school. But just because we’re small, we’re still unique and they’ve shown that with how they bounce over every single obstacle that’s been thrown at them.”
Since the team has no seniors, the main goal for this year’s competition is to gain experience for next year, she said.
The team has been riding the lead of veterans Analicia Lopez, Ilana Sanchez-Valdez, Rianna Maestas and Jolene Campion.
“I have these returning captains and they have exceeded my expectations as far as leadership and encouraging the whole team to be the best that could be,” she said.
Now they’re all out recruiting people for next season.
And as for state, “My expectations are just to have fun, enjoy the ride,” Valdez said. “We’re looking for more next season. And I think other teams are going to underestimate us for sure.”
Pojoaque Valley
Although Annmarie Villegas is in her first year with the Elkettes, she is a veteran coach in the area.
And now she’s trying to mold Pojoaque into a winner.
“For this weekend, my expectations are to first and foremost, ensure that my girls make it the most memorable competition that they have had,” she said. “I want to see them compete as a team, united and have fun. As far as placing, I 100% would love to see us place in the top five. But, more than anything, I would like for my girls to see that they have grown both in talents, skills and confidence.”
If the team is to have success, it will be with a squad that has shrunk from 25 at the beginning of the season to 14 now. But the Elkettes are coming off a first place finish in Gameday Cheer last weekend in the Fear the Fangs competition in Tucumcari.
“When I first started with the team, straight coming in, I had six athletes who had never stepped on a cheer mat. They were brand new to cheer,” Villegas said. “They were excited and they were coachable and that was absolutely refreshing and amazing for me. Coming in as a first year coach, you always want coachable girls.”
It also helps to have some athletes who have been around the program and can help with the transition.
“We had five that were returning from last year’s team,” she said. “And that was amazing because you always need returners to help you solidify that foundation. That helps you as an incoming coach to get some perspective and know what to expect. I was very blessed that they did exactly that.”
The Elkettes have relied on the trio of Kylie Fresquez. Mireya Archuleta and Ariyah Salazar to show the rest of the squad how it’s done.
“Then we went straight in,” Villegas said. “We have gotten better every single week. I’ve found with my young ladies that building their confidence has been key to getting them to the goals that we set at the beginning of the year.”
And that’s led to more intricate routines.
“Now we’re able to do more intensive stunts because they have a good foundation and a core of stunting,” Villegas said. “So, for me, all of those fundamentals are really what I focused on coming in.”