2015-16 Executive Board

By Jose Garcia
azpreps365.com
The Cheer Returns to the Valley
Grand Canyon to Host Spiritline Championships
The annual state spiritline competition, a highlycompetitive,
one-day event for Arizona’s best high
school cheerleading teams, has a new home.
Grand Canyon University is opening its doors to
Arizona’s best small and big school spiritlines, a dedicated
group that lends its support to its campus’ teams
throughout the school year. The Arizona Veterans
Memorial Coliseum used to host the state spiriltine
competition before moving to Prescott.
But the cheer is returning to the Valley on Saturday,
this time at GCU. The spiritline championships run for
about 12 hours, beginning at 8 a.m. with the co-ed
teams.
The all-girl session starts at about 4 p.m. Each team
earned its spot in the finals after placing in the top-10
in either the San Tan or Agua Fria qualifier.
For a list of when every team will compete on
Saturday and important information for fans, please go
to aiaonline.org, click on the activities link and then go
to spiritlines.
“These are kids who promote and support all of their
high school teams,” said David Hines, the Arizona
Interscholastic Association’s assistant executive director.
“Now it’s time to turn that around and come in and
support them.”
The cheering won’t stop after Saturday.
Some teams will move on to nationals, but they will
all continue making appearances at school events during
the remainder of their school years.
And practice, practice, practice.
Competitive cheer teams train about 2-3 three hours
a day, six days a week during the school year, and
their seasons last about 11 months. That commitment
helps elevate the tension of state championship day for
cheer teams.
After spending so much time preparing for Saturday,
how teams fare in the standings boils down to how
they perform during their 60-120 second routines. It’s
then left up to the judges’ scores to determine the winners.
“The girls bond throughout the school year,”
Mountain Ridge spiritline coach Mary Haddock said.
Mountain Ridge’s Cheer Team (photo courtesy of MRHS)
“For the schools this is the one moment they’ve
worked so hard for. They only get one shot to perform,
and then it’s over. It can hit you hard, especially for the
seniors.”
Mountain Ridge has been celebrating a lot after
recent big events.
At the Agua Fria qualifier, Mountain Ridge won the
show cheer event and placed in the top-5 in all-girl
stunt and pom.
Haddock believes this is the first time that her program
has qualified to compete for the overall state title.
Xavier is the two-time defending overall spiritline award
winner in Division I.
Haddock, a former cheerleader at Arizona State and
Deer Valley High, took over Mountain Ridge last year
and guided her program to a first place finish in show
cheer at state and second place result in the same
event at nationals.
“Those girls are my whole world,” Haddock said.
“They took me right in. It’s an amazing school to work
for.”
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