Hellgate’s cheer team is eagerly counting down the days until they head to Denver, Colorado for the NCA Northern Rockies Regional Championship Nov..18 and 19. The cheer team started competing in 2019 at a local competition called CheerFest in Lewiston. The team placed 1st in the AA All-Girl Division. A year later they competed in a virtual local competition called Spirit Spectacular and placed 3rd in AA Co-Ed, 2nd in Basket Toss, 1st in Pyramid and 1st in Individual Stunt Group. 

Since then the team has been attending cheer camps to work on building bigger skills in hopes of competing in bigger out-of-state competitions. During their camp competitions, the team has taken first place in Game Day categories as well as best in their division overall for the last two years. Last year the team competed in the UCA West Virtual Regionals and took 4th in Game Day, which ultimately earned them a bid for Nationals in Florida in January. Due to the district’s hesitancy over COVID the team could not attend. 

Caroline McCormick who is in her 5th year coaching the team said, “We are so excited to be able to take the mat at a large regional, in-person competition for the first time!” McCormick and the team, which is made up of 16 dedicated student athletes, practice in the early mornings four days a week in order to perfect their routine with their team goal being to place in the top three. “A win at regionals will really prove to us that the blood, sweat, and tears were worth it!” McCormick said.

The team is planning on competing at CheerFest again this year in the Co-ed division and they are hoping to bring home another win. “On behalf of the cheer team, I want to thank all of the HHS students, faculty and staff for all of the love and support we’ve felt for our program this year,” McCormick said. She also wants the student body to keep a lookout for a rare Winter Tryout announcement! She also hopes that even if you aren’t interested in personally being on the team, you still want to see the team in action, you’ll attend their Spirit Showcase in February!