Crimson Cliffs cheerleaders take 1st place in 3 events at divisional competition, look ahead to state

Crimson Cliffs High School cheerleaders and coaches with first-place banners won at Central Region championships, Lehi, Utah, Jan. 14, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Crimson Cliffs Athletics, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The Crimson Cliffs High School cheerleading team made a strong showing at the Utah High School Activities Association’s Central Divisional championships staged at Lehi High School on Saturday.

Crimson Cliffs High School cheerleaders perform during halftime of a basketball game, Washington City, Utah, Jan. 6, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

Competing in the 4A/5A coed classification, the Mustangs won three of the four routines at the regional competition and took second place in the other, thereby qualifying for state in all four events.

Crimson Cliffs head coach Becky Erickson, who is in her first year at the helm, said there are 44 members on this year’s team, 40 girls and four boys. Sixteen of the cheerleaders are seniors.

“This is the first year that cheer has become a (sanctioned) sport for the UHSAA,” she noted. “So that’s a really big deal.”

“In our first three routines where we took first, they did as good as they possibly could,” Erickson said, adding, “And then, in the one that we took second, we did have a couple of missteps. But I think it’s kind of a perfect position for us to be in because it will make us be really motivated all week to work hard to get ready for that state championship.”

Erickson said that with this being the sport’s inaugural year as an official UHSAA event, many teams were competing against opponents they’d never faced before.

“I wasn’t sure what we were up against, because we hadn’t had a chance to go up against them,” she said. “This is a big learning curve for us. But we’ve tried to focus on just doing the best we can do, putting it out there on the floor and hoping that it scores like we want it to.”

Besides Crimson Cliffs, two other Southern Utah schools also competed at the Central Divisional competition on Saturday: Canyon View and Hurricane. Canyon View, competing in the 3A/4A all-girl category, placed first in sideline/timeout cheer, second in sideline/timeout fight and third in sideline/timeout dance. The Falcons qualified for state in all three categories. Additionally, in the 4A/5A coed classification, Hurricane qualified for state in two events by placing among the top five.

For a complete listing of category placings by the teams in the Central Divisional competition, see the results page on UHSAA’s website.

As previously reported, numerous other Southern Utah schools have already competed in the Southern Region event that was held at Canyon View High School in Cedar City on Jan. 7.

UHSAA’s third and final regional competitive cheer event, for the state’s Northern Division, will take place this coming Saturday, Jan. 21 at Ben Lomond High. 

That will be followed by the 1A/2A/3A/4A state championships scheduled for Jan. 25 at Utah Valley University in Orem. 

“We’re looking forward to state,” Erickson said. “We just want to just focus on doing our very best and hopefully, that will be enough.”

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