Competitive cheer has first meet at home

The Custer Wildcat competitive cheer team had it’s first competition of the season last Thursday at the Custer Cheer and Dance Invitational  held at the Armory. The team competed against Hot Springs, Sturgis, Belle Fourche and the Lakota Tech dance team. At the meet they also honored senior team members Chloe Carder and Kaiyah McDonnell.
“The team did a fantastic job. I think the first competition is always the hardest,” said head coach Jenna Cooper.
Belle Fourche, Custer, Hot Springs and Sturgis competed in the cheer category while Lakota Tech was the sole team competing in the jazz and hip hop categories. Custer came in third place, ahead of Belle Fourche and behind Sturgis (first place) and Hot Springs (second place). Lakota Tech, being the onluy comeptitor in the dance categories, came in first place for jazz and hip hop.
“This group has been together a long time. They have great work ethic and their positive attitudes make it easy,” said Cooper.
Even though their routine is set for the season, they will fine tune it as the season progresses.
“Now that we have our routine future competitions will be about perfecting our performances. We always strive to go on the mat and deliver a phenomenal performance,” said Cooper.
One of the biggest challenges facing the team is its small size, making it more diffciult to perform the stunts that other bigger squads can pull off.
“An area of opportunity for us is our size. Stunting becomes challenging the smaller your team gets,” said Cooper.