- By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
It came down to the wire for 3A Cheer, as the judge’s final scores for the top three teams were less than five points apart at this year’s State Spirit Competition held in The Pit on the sports complex of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque March 23-24, 2018.
After day one Raton was in the lead by two tenths of a point over Clayton according to RHS Head Cheer Coach Linda Ortiz. Both teams had solid performances Friday and the scores reflected that. Saturday was a different day however with both Raton and Clayton having a fall in their routines while Pecos had an almost flawless performance. Once the judge’s scores were totaled, Pecos was the 2018 3A state champions with a score of 153.87 and Raton was less than a point behind them with a 152.91 score. Clayton had lost three places in the final tally and came in behind Dexter’s 148.99 with a score of 146.38 just over seven points behind Pecos who they were ahead of after Friday’s performance.
Coach Linda Ortiz noted after Raton’s performance Saturday that a fall would cost them points but she was still hopeful of a good score because of the complexity of their routine. Ortiz has been coaching for 29 years and was asked will you make it back next year? She said these girls will be back next year but when asked specifically if she would, her answer was, “We will see”.
As for Sue Holland and her very young Tiger Cats dance team they are looking forward to next year seeing this year as a building year. Holland has four 8th graders, four freshmen and one sophomore on the team and is looking forward to adding additional team members next year with some new eighth graders coming up.
The Tiger Cats were sitting in fourth after Friday’s competition a place that Holland said was very good considering the youth of the team and the competition. Since there are so few dance teams in class A-4A NMAA lumped them together which put Raton up against Class 4A schools like St Mikes who won the dance competition with a 176.40 score. Hope Christian who took second with a 172.70 followed very closely by Sandia Prep with a 172.40. Raton finished the competition in sixth with a 146.70 score behind Taos at 151.40 and West Las Vegas at 149.00.
It is once again the private schools against the public schools, a topic of conversation that has gone on for a long time at state spirit, especially in the class A-4A area of competition. Noting that the private schools often are able to afford help with choreography and training that public schools are not able to do. Next year St Mikes and Raton will be in the same district as NMAA changes up the district lineup for the next two years.
Op Ed;
It was once again a topic of conversation at the state spirit competition that cheer and dance are not a sport. Oh they are just cheerleaders is what one event staff told me. However after seeing the state spirit competition himself, he too had changed his mind. He said these ladies are athletes. I must admit that I too had felt the same way until I learned more about what these girls do and the amount of effort they put into the routines and stunts. Practice every day after school, they also perform all school year for most sports.
State Spirit is their state championship. They have two minutes to perform a routine. They don’t have four quarters or seven innings to win the game. They have to come out of that tunnel at The Pit ready to perform and go all out for two minutes to do a routine with stunts and dance. Its all out effort. To the girls who lead us in cheers at all the home ball games all year long and the girls who dance for our halftime entertainment, You Girls Rock and we are proud of you and the work you put in for this sport!!
Link to the 2018 State Spirit Competition Results
Thank you Marty for a very nice article and photos.