By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
“Cheerleading isn’t just waving your arms and shouting,” observes NRHEG senior Grace Wilkenson. Fellow senior Eva Wayne agrees: “People often don’t realize how serious it is,” she says. “It’s actually very competitive and very demanding.”
As three-time members of NRHEG’s state champion competitive cheer team and 10-year participants in the sport, the two of them would know.
Wayne and Wilkenson were among the 15 cheerleaders and four coaches who represented NRHEG at the weekend-long competition that ended Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. On Saturday morning, the group performed its two-minute, 30-second routine along with 8 other competing teams and was ranked in the top half, thus advancing to finals later that evening.
According to coach Joni Churchill, scores for the routines are compiled by a panel of judges who rank various elements based on their difficulty and quality of execution, with a possible score of up to 100.
During finals, the team got its highest rating to date: 86.8, a full 12 points ahead of the next-highest score in their class.
“We kind of dominated,” says Wayne. “It was exciting.”
Also exciting for the team was the number of NRHEG fans who attended. A required element of the routine is a brief cheer-leading segment meant to fire up a crowd. Hearing fans responding to their call-outs helped the team build energy. “It empowers you,” commented Wilkenson.
Another source of empowerment were discussions among coaches and judges. “We kept hearing, ‘We have no idea who this is,’ ’’ remembers Wayne. “They had trouble believing a group from such a small town could be holding its own at such a high level.”
“It felt good,” says Wilkenson.
Another highlight for the team was receiving the Minnesota Cheerleading Coaches’ A ssociation (MCC A ) “Region Academic Honor” (RAH) award. This title is given to the team with the highest group-wide grade point average, in NRHEG’s case, 3.82–the highest in the state. The number includes the grades of all team members, no exceptions.
During a banquet held Friday evening, both the RAH award and the fact that Eva Wayne had been selected for a $1,000 MCCA scholarship were announced.
Wayne and Wilkenson mention a few other elements of the competition which they found exciting. One was that the NRHEG was able to pose for a “Gopher Conference” photo with competition cheer teams from Kenyon-Wanamingo and Waterville-Elysian-Morristown.
Another was that, while many other teams hold daily practices, NRHEG’s participants take part in sports and other activities, and so typically practice about once a week. Wilkenson says team members found it inspiring that they could be so competitive despite having about one-fifth the amount of practice.
Wilkenson admits that, even though NRHEG had the strongest
score in the preliminary round and was well placed for finals, the team was in a bit of a rough spot prior to performing on in the final round. “The pyramid on my side just wasn’t holding,” she remembers. “It was a mess, and I wondered how things would go.”
Both seniors comment that, while the competition is very demanding on a physical level, the performance is also a “mind game.”
“We tell each other, ‘Don’t have thoughts’ as we head out to the floor,” says Wilkenson. “What we mean is, don’t let worries or doubts get in the way.”
“I don’t like knowing how the other teams did,” confesses Wayne. “That’s part of the mind game, too.”
However, once the performance begins, “You’re not nervous anymore,” says Wilkenson. “You just follow through on the moves and stunts you’ve practiced together about 300 times.”
The two seniors acknowledge that winning their third straight state championship is a great way to finish off their tenth and final season on the team. “We’re thankful to be able to do this,” says Wayne. “We’re grateful for our coaches and our teammates and all the opportunities they’ve made possible for us.”
Speaking of opportunities, the team is still practicing hard because all its members and coaches are headed to national level competition next week, having qualified this past November. That competition will take place in Orlando, FL, the weekend of Feb. 9-12.
For those who enjoy an exciting show, the team will be performing its routine for the Snow Week pep fest scheduled to take place in the high school gym at 9:15 a.m. Monday, Jan. 6. Live streaming of their performance at nationals will be available on February 10. To limit access for competing teams, the routine itself is not yet posted online.
Coaches for the competitive cheer team are Joni Churchill, Linda Stadheim, Jennifer Bunn, and Brooke Berg.
Team members are (seniors) Wayne and Wilkenson, (juniors) Payton Bunn, Julia Churchill, Brenna Sommer, Isabel Stadheim and Malonna Wilson, (sophomore) Sierra Misgen, (freshmen) Madison Bogue and Kyera Eustice, and (eighth-graders) Ariel Anhalt, Autumn Baseman, Olivia Berg, Addison Buenger and Orianna Degen.