Cleveland High Takes 2nd at Cheer Competition

Precision and experience have made the V. Sue Cleveland High cheerleaders one of the top teams in state, according to coach Alex Kramer.

The 22-member varsity squad achieved a second-place win in the 5A cheer category at the New Mexico State Spirit Championships held Saturday and Sunday at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho.

They were in a field of nine large high schools and lost to the La Cueva squad by four points. Rio Rancho High school came in third.

The top three teams received trophies.

“They hit both routines perfectly,” Kramer said. “This is a hard-working team. They hit it and they’re clean and crisp.”

She said the eight seniors on the team provided a good foundation.

“It put us in a good position,” she said. “Some of them have been with us for three years.”

The squad has one member who is male but the team did not have to move to the much more crowded 5A coed division, which had 17 teams. Teams with only one male can stay in the regular category.

The cheer competition was held both days of the event. Kramer said the first night, the squads had to do a sideline cheer without music in an effort to involve the crowd. The Cleveland team finished first that night. “That’s something they are really good at doing,” she said.

The second night the teams had to perform a routine set to music. Kramer and her assistant coaches choreographed the routine and used a variety of artists, including Kelly Clarkson and Flo Rida.

The second-place win, she said, was very satisfying.

This is the highest the team has ever placed in the three years since the school opened. Kramer said the squad placed third last year and sixth during the 2009-’10 school year. The state competition is in some ways the pinnacle of the school year.

“We begin preparing for state all the way back in April after tryouts,” she said. “These particular routines we practiced for two months.”