On Thursday Gilpin County School’s competitive cheer squad took an outstanding second place in the Colorado High School State Cheer Championship. Everyone at Gilpin School is very proud of the hard work and dedication that the cheerleaders, Remi Rich, Alison Antill, Lynda Icenogle, Bree Rice-Dietz, and freshman cheerleader Kari Hanson have put in. This achievement is also shared with the head coach Katie Yocom and assistant coaches Cindy Upchurch and Kathy Haley who pushed these girls to work hard and succeed. The Gilpin cheer team has been working tirelessly towards this goal since August to refine their incredible skills while still making time to cheer for Gilpin. Whether they are playing basketball or football, the cheers never quit.

Gilpin as a school has huge heart but the population of this school is undeniably small making this win even more impressive. The odds were stacked against the five girls who had to compete in the 2A/3A division which meant they had to go against far larger schools. Even at this disadvantage the girls stuck together beautifully. Out of 24 schools in their division they made the finals and it wasn’t even close. The girls managed to end five full points above every other school in the division. Unfortunately, during the finals a long time rival, The Academy, managed to just barely creep ahead of the Gilpin School team and beat them by a heartbreaking .2 points.

This was certainly one of the cheer squad’s greatest years competing, if not the best, but Gilpin does show an impressive history for cheer as well. In 2001 Gilpin competed in the state competition and got 3rd, an impressive showing, and again the next year placing 4th. Gilpin then took a long break from competing in cheer but came back in 2018 when Gilpin changed the focus of the cheers to creativity, energy, and most importantly crowd engagement.

Cheer is a difficult sport that requires a true athlete who must be focused, flexible, and strong. All the girls are still students who must keep good grades which our team makes a strong priority.

The amazing cheer squad are keeping spirits high at Gilpin County School.