ActivePaper Archive Lovington cheer takes district title JASON FARMER - Hobbs News Sun, 3/3/2019

Lovington cheer takes district title JASON FARMER

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JASON FARMER/NEWS-SUN

Members of the Lovington cheer squad celebrate their district championship Saturday afternoon in Wildcat Gym at the conclusion of the Third Annual Wildcat Spirit Classic.

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JASON FARMER/NEWS-SUN

Hobbs cheerleaders (from l-r) Madalyn Baxter, Hailey Castillo, Claire Gleghorn, Kenzie Mills, and Sydnee Snyder perform a Gameday cheer routine Saturday during the the Third Annual Wildcat Spirit Classic in Wildcat Gym in Lovington.

LOVINGTON – The Lovington cheer squad hosted its Third Annual Wildcat Spirit Classic Saturday in Wildcat Gymnasium and when it was all over, the Lady Wildcats started cheering in excitement as they had won the district championship.

“I am so very, very proud of the team,” Loving-ton coach Krystie Arreola said. “They are so very excited. We talked about it last night (Friday) about having a championship mentality. Thinking to be a champion, feeling, saying to be a champion. Being a champion and performing like a champion. We talked about having that mentality for the next 30 days as we go into state, but also having that champion mentality for life.”

Lovington beat out Artesia and Goddard for the top spot in the district, claiming the title on its home floor.

Lovington had to cheer in Roswell and in Artesia as well as hosting a home meet to compete for the district title. In Roswell, Lovington won cheer with music and took second in gameday. Then, in Artesia, Lovington won cheer with music again and again took second in gameday. Finally, on its home floor, Lovington won cheer with music for a third time and finished runner up in game day, for a third time.

“We had a district championship which is actually what happened today,” Arreola said. “We went up against Goddard and Artesia which are our district opponents. … The overall score for all three district competitions, we had the highest total and that is what decided the district champ.”

The competition had teams from Hobbs, Lovington, Roswell, and Artesia High Schools as well as Lovington’s Taylor Middle School and Artesia Junior High School. Royalty Elite and Wright School of Dance also participated.

There were several different categories for teams to participate in: Cheer with music, Gameday Cheer, Pom, Jazz, and Exhibition. Hobbs was the only school to participate in the co-ed brackets.

Hobbs and Lovington each performed two routines, one in Cheer with Music and another in Gameday Cheer. Hobbs took first in the Class 5A co-ed Cheer with music and co-ed Gameday cheer.

The Hobbs cheer squad did have a minor slip up during its second performance, but recovered nicely and still thrilled the crowd throughout the rest of its performance.

“We had a few bobbles and we wish that it could have gone a little bit better,” Hobbs cheer coach Brittanee McCleery said. “They are really good about forgetting one thing and going to the next. They bobbled, regrouped, and got it accomplished on the next thing that they had to go in and do. They did a really good job on it.”

While the mistakes were not what the Hobbs cheer squad wanted, the team did just make changes to its routine on Thursday and Friday.

“They did do actually pretty good, considering all the changes we made in such a short time,” McCleery said. “These changes came about just recently so we have a lot of practice to do before state. But I know these kids will get it to where it is perfect.”

Hobbs and Lovington will now have about a month to prepare for the state tournament which will be held on March 29 and 30. While Lovington won the Class 5A state cheer championship last year, Hobbs finished second at state in co-ed 5A-6A cheer last season.

“We have a couple of weeks, but we also have basketball state in-between there,” McCleery said. “That will take a week out of our practice time, but they will be ready by state.”

“We are preparing for state (now),” Arreola added. “That is our ultimate goal, to win a state championship. As a matter of fact, we want to go back-to-back as state champs.”