{"id":24631,"date":"2024-11-28T10:17:45","date_gmt":"2024-11-28T17:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bluejays-cheer-squad-flies-to-state-competition\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:57:13","slug":"bluejays-cheer-squad-flies-to-state-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bluejays-cheer-squad-flies-to-state-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Bluejays cheer squad flies to state competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Mancos cheer team performs at the Western Colorado Regional, where the Bluejays took top honors in both the Co-Ed and Game Day competitions. Photo courtesy of Anna Jane Lawrence<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

GRAND JUNCTION \u2013 When the top teams were announced at the regional spirit competition in Grand Junction in mid-November, the results left Mancos third-year head coach Megan Daves-Warner in a state of confusion.<\/p>\n

After not hearing her team\u2019s name announced among the top 2A teams in their competitive Game Day and Co-Ed Cheer performances, Daves-Warner shared the disappointment that her team felt. Then, moments later, she heard the Bluejays named as the runner-up in the 3A division.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went and spoke with one of the judges after I heard our names announced in the wrong division \u2013 we\u2019re a 2A school,\u201d said Daves-Warner, \u201cand the judge told me that we had scored so close to the winning 3A school that they assumed that we were a 3A program, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Disappointment turned to jubilation as the Bluejays learned that their high scores from their performances had them placed as the top 2A team in both categories.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re competing against programs that have 20 kids \u2013 we had seven at regionals \u2013 it says a lot about our team\u2019s dedication,\u201d added the Mancos head coach.<\/p>\n

It was a fitting achievement for a hardworking group, as the group adjusted to new performance routine elements in preparation for the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the week before competition, I threw two new routines at them \u2013 and they nailed both of them without a single deduction,\u201d said Daves-Warner.<\/p>\n

The Jays mastered two different styles of programs \u2013 the Co-Ed category involves dance and tumbling elements while the Game Day category involves more components that might be seen on the sideline at a football game.<\/p>\n

The Jays feature multisport athletes, which both brought out the competitive energy from her squad, while also posing significant challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single one of our team members is a multisport athlete, so trying to work around their volleyball, basketball, swim, etc., \u2026 schedules has made establishing routines difficult,\u201d said Daves-Warner.<\/p>\n

For Daves-Warner, one of the biggest areas of growth came not only through the development of the team\u2019s preparation this year, but the overall growth of the program in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral years ago, Mancos didn\u2019t really have a cheer team, let alone a competition team, but we\u2019ve got peewee and middle school programs going \u2013 and the kids love the opportunity to compete, and we\u2019ve made it fun for them,\u201d said Daves-Warner.<\/p>\n

With all the fall sports wrapped up, Mancos will be able to field their full team for their Co-Ed performance at state \u2013 11 athletes with five boys and six girls.<\/p>\n

A pair of captains, Madison Daves and Elly Coey, have made it a family atmosphere, according to Daves-Warner. Daves was named all-state as a sophomore after the Jays qualified for state last year.<\/p>\n

Daves earned the Main Flyer honor in the Western Colorado Region, while Parley Smith received recognition for Best Individual Jumps.<\/p>\n

Lauding their achievements, Daves-Warner complimented their dedication through the past three years to help a program without any seniors continue to buy in to the commitment that has elevated the program to among the best in the state.<\/p>\n

Mancos enters the CHSAA State Spirit Championships brimming with confidence, as the Jays will take to the Denver Coliseum floor on Friday, Dec. 13, competing in the 2A\/3A Co-Ed Cheer division. The Jays are slated to compete at 2:49 p.m. for their 2-and-a-half-minute routine.<\/p>\n

The top teams from the qualification round will advance to the finals, which will take place beginning at 7:30 that evening.<\/p>\n

Mancos won\u2019t be the only area team battling in Denver \u2013 the Montezuma-Cortez cheer team will compete in the 2A\/3A Game Day division on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 3:13 p.m., while the Dolores squad will compete in the 2A Cheer division on Friday morning at 9:53 a.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been beyond ecstatic with this team,\u201d said Daves-Warner. \u201cThey\u2019ve been willing to try everything we\u2019ve put in front of them, and they\u2019ve taken this program to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

squad collects high honors at regionals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,39,28,37,36],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-24631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24631","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=24631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78616,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24631\/revisions\/78616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24631"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=24631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}