The defending State Champion Manitou Springs Cheerleaders hosted the League Championship cheer competition on November 15, finishing an unexpected second place to St. Mary’s.

The Mustangs went second, performing what they thought was a first-place worthy routine.

“I think we did, in our opinion, the best routine we have probably done all season,” said junior cheerleader Emily Lord. “…after we came off the mat, we all felt like we had done an amazing job.”

Head coach Alice Stoneback agreed with Lord, expressing her praise for the team.

“I think the girls performed very well. It’s the best I’ve seen them do that routine; they did it perfectly and I was really proud of their performance,”

After all the competitions finished, the judges announced the places, with Manitou coming in second to St. Mary’s.

Manitou didn’t drop a single stunt, whereas St. Mary’s dropped a stunt and a hair bow, both of which should have been large deductions.

“That was not expected at all… It was just kind of a shock and really disappointing,” said Lord.

Stoneback also expressed dissatisfaction with the judges’ decisions, but is looking towards State.

“I don’t necessarily agree with the judges’ rankings, but there’s nothing we can do about that, and we decided we’re just going to move forward and show them differently at State.”

The next competition will be the State Championship on December 8 at the Denver Colosseum, where Manitou will be performing the same routine but with some small adjustments.

“This is where we want to be right now,” said Lord. “We’re just gonna work out butts off and show St. Mary’s that, ‘Yeah, you beat last year’s State Champions at Leagues, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to beat us at State.'”

By Keegan Bockhorst and Maddie Conarro