{"id":131423,"date":"2026-06-01T14:20:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T20:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mancos-cheer-duo-maddie-daves-and-elly-coey-vaulting-into-college\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T17:42:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T23:42:24","slug":"mancos-cheer-duo-maddie-daves-and-elly-coey-vaulting-into-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mancos-cheer-duo-maddie-daves-and-elly-coey-vaulting-into-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Mancos cheer duo Maddie Daves and Elly Coey vaulting into college"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Mancos\u2019
Mancos\u2019 Maddie Daves holds the trophy as part of the Southwest Elite All-stars Senior Team \u2013 a program she helped found earlier this year \u2013 as her squad won the U.S. Finals earlier this spring. Daves also landed an opportunity to cheer for Western Colorado University this fall. (Courtesy of Megan Daves)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

MANCOS \u2013 Scarcely moments after she officially closed out her high school cheerleading career at the 2A state championships, Mancos senior Maddie Daves had already turned her focus to making sure the Bluejays program would continue to sustain their status as a top-tier program on the state scene.<\/p>\n

Having witnessed the plethora of options on the Front Range for aspiring cheer athletes \u2013 camps, competitive opportunities and rigorous training environments \u2013 Daves wanted to make sure the Four Corners could offer similar opportunities. So, after graduating early in December, Daves turned her focus on turning her vision into reality.<\/p>\n

Just a month after collecting her diploma, Daves opened Southwest Elite All-stars, where she works as part-owner, coach and even competitor alongside the Senior Level team (ages 13-18). She also coaches and choreographs the Junior Flex team (ages 7-14) \u2013 and her teams have already made massive leaps.<\/p>\n

In just a few short months, both the Senior and Junior squads have earned high-level accolades, including the Senior team winning the CheerSport and US Finals titles, as well as earning an at-large invitation to join some of the premier cheer squads in the country at The Summit in Orlando, Florida. The Junior team earned runner-up at both the PacWest and Grand Canyon Championships in their inaugural season.<\/p>\n

Building off that momentum, Daves and the SWEA have set up an opportunity for even more community engagement, as they host open gym classes at the Cortez Area Youth Activity Center at 126 E. Main St. in Cortez on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays this summer. The classes are open to youth aged 4-19, and offers a learning environment with tumbling, jumps, stunting and performance skills, as well as a chance to learn more about the All-star cheerleading program.<\/p>\n

More information is available through the SWEA social media accounts, through Facebook at SWEA Cheerleading, and @southwesteliteallstars on Instagram.<\/p>\n

Daves and Coey prepped to cheer at RMAC schools this fall<\/div>\n

As if founding her own business wasn\u2019t enough, Daves joins her MHS teammate Elly Coey with plans to take their cheerleading to the next level. The duo head to rival schools in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this fall, as Coey joins the Colorado Mesa University team while Daves makes her way to Gunnison to cheer for the Mountaineers of Western Colorado University.<\/p>\n

\"Mancos\u2019
Mancos\u2019 Elly Coey poses with the Colorado Mesa University cheer team at tryouts this spring \u2013 Coey earned a spot on the Mavericks\u2019 squad and will head to Grand Junction to cheer this fall. (Courtesy of Megan Daves)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Both Coey and Daves earned all-state accolades during their decorated high school careers while leading the Mancos program to unprecedented heights, earning fifth place in the 2A\/3A Co-Ed division at the 2025 CHSAA state championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir leadership shaped Mancos cheer into what it is today,\u201d said MHS cheer head coach Megan Daves of her co-captains, \u201ctheir impact on the team, the younger athletes and the community will be felt for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mancos\u2019
Mancos\u2019 Maddie Daves performs at a competition in Farmington, Utah, as part of the Southwest Elite All-stars \u2013 a program she helped found earlier this year. Daves also landed an opportunity to cheer for Western Colorado University this fall. (Courtesy of Megan Daves)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Having received offers from several schools across the Southwest, Maddie Daves settled on staying in the Centennial State, while Coey proved her mettle to be able to also cheer at the Division II level by successfully completing a tryout with the Mavericks.<\/p>\n

Both athletes pushed themselves in other pursuits as well, with Coey named as the Mancos Homecoming queen, earning state qualification in wrestling for Bayfield HS, playing volleyball for MHS, and enjoying an active career as a motocross enthusiast, while Daves earned recognition on the President\u2019s List at Pueblo Community College for her academic efforts, while also being named CHSAA Impact Player of the Month.<\/p>\n

\"Mancos
Mancos seniors Elly Coey and Noah Higinbotham are named Homecoming Queen and King in Mancos\u2019 Homecoming festivities. (Erika Alvero\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThese young women have represented Mancos and the Four Corners region with excellence, dedication and pride,\u201d Megan Daves said. \u201cI\u2019m incredibly proud of everything they\u2019ve accomplished, and will continue to pursue in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

began her own all-star cheer program to spur on next generation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6313],"tags":[38,39,28,37,36,6419],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-131423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-2","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-tj-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131459,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131423\/revisions\/131459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131423"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=131423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}