A cheer championship for HHS

Cheerleading may not be seen as a traditional sport by some, but that does not mean they can't bring home the hardware.

The Havre High School cheer team proved just that when the Blue Ponies won their first state title in the 2021 Spirit Spectacular last week. The Blue Ponies had to earn it as they won the title over schools from Class A, B and C, which comprises more than 150 schools.

Havre cheer head coach Stephanie Borst hopes that the state title will encourage students to try out for the cheer squad.

"I hope that it's really huge. That it shows other students at Havre High, not just females but males alike that it's more than just singing out chants and cheers," Borst said. "They put in a lot of time in practice, so we're hoping that opens up to other people that maybe they'd be interested."

The competition was virtual as the Ponies filmed their routine on video and sent it to the judges. The judges came from the National Cheerleaders Association and Universal Cheerleaders Association. The judges scored the Ponies based on their technique, interaction, enthusiasm and difficulty of their routine.

Havre participated in the traditional cheer competition. The Ponies trained for the routine for six weeks. Borst credited assistant coach Taylor Stokes for getting the cheerleaders ready for the competition because she made the routine. The Ponies performed the same routine that they had performed at halftime of the Havre High girls and boys basketball teams at their divisional and state tournaments in February. It was Havre's first time in the competition as Borst and Stokes found it online through the Montana Cheer Coaches Facebook page.

The title-winning squad is made up of 13 cheerleaders: Chloe Bricker, Emma Gillen, Addison Golie, Katharine Greenwood, Lexi Haney, Keylee Kline, Saige Knutsen, Paige Parson, Tamera O'Leary, Brooklyn Russell, Brynn Stokes, Kaylee Torgerson and Carley Wertheimer. Borst hopes that winning a state title will increase this squad's confidence.

"It was a big ego-booster for them," Borst said. "It was a real great accomplishment for them because it gave them some bragging rights."

Borst has been coaching the Havre cheer team for six years, five years as the head coach and one year as an assistant. Even though she coached the Ponies to their first ever state title, Borst was more focused on what the title meant to her squad than herself.

"For me, it's all about the girls, and that is huge," Borst said. "I always want them to want to want to be there and want to strive to do good things."

The state title served as the perfect send-off for seniors Haney, O'Leary, Torgerson and Parson. Some of the seniors were not cheerleaders for long when they won their first title.

"They were ecstatic because several of the seniors, this was the first time they had ever done cheer and a couple of them had only done it two seasons," Borst said.

If any of her seniors plan to stick to cheerleading and go on to cheer in college, Borst hopes that this title will give them a boost when they try out.

"Several of the girls from Havre High have gone on to become college cheerleaders, so this is a nice little thing for their resume," Borst said.