Crash foils cheer team’s chance

The Custer High School competitive cheer team looked strong going into their own Custer Invitational Cheer and Dance competition on Monday. The girls on the team were well-rehearsed with a routine that included lots of flying and tumbling stunts and well-timed moves. Then disaster struck. 

Shortly into the musical part of the routine, two of the girls collided during a tumbling stunt resulting in senior Jade Carder getting kicked in the head. 

Coach Tiffany Newman says the girls had performed flawlessly at practices and during the warmup and says the accident was “a simple mistake of placement.” 

After being evaluated by the team’s trainer it was determined that Carder might have sustained a concussion in the collision. 

The routine was stopped shortly after the incident and the girls left the floor, but after about a 15-minute break the remainder of the team returned to the mats to perform the routine again without Carder. 

“The fact that the girls wanted to go back and perform it again knowing that they would not be able to perform all their stunts I was impressed with how they performed overall,” said Newman. 

After performing the routine again, handicapped by the loss of Carder, the Wildcats finished fifth and last among the five teams in the cheer portion of the event. 

Finishing first was Hot Springs, followed by Douglas, Belle Fourche and Sturgis. 

Newman says Carder will have to undergo a medical evaluation to see how extensive her injuries are and then the team will have to decide how to proceed. 

“If it is a concussion we’ll have to change the routine to a certain extent,” said Newman, concluding, “We’ll start from scratch tomorrow and go from there.”

Currently the team is scheduled to compete in the Rapid City Stevens Invitational cheer and dance meet on Saturday, but Newman suggested that may be in doubt.