MHS competitive cheer, dance teams eager to showcase skills nearing new season
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Aug. 19—MITCHELL — After working hard throughout the summer and preseason preparations thus far, the Mitchell High School competitive cheer and dance teams are eager to launch its new season with fall competitions coming up.
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And for the first time since 2013, the Kernel dance team will have a new coach at the helm after the departure of Cassey Ver Hey, who took over the Dakota Wesleyan University cheer and dance program in June. After serving as an assistant coach since 2023 for MHS, Tessa Allen will be stepping in for Ver Hey, bringing a sense of familiarity for the dance team this season.
"I have been the assistant coach over the last few years since I graduated, so I have known most of these girls," Allen said. "Obviously, there's some new ones, but it hasn't been really much different other that. So, it's been super easy to step into the head coaching role."
The competitive cheer team brings back six letterwinners from last season, while the competitive dance team returns 10 to help provide leadership to both groups that are otherwise full of underclassmen.
After graduating two seniors from last year's squad, the dance team is composed of one senior in Brooklyn Schlimgen, plus juniors Madilyn Moon and Ashlyn Weitzman, to create a strong balance between them and the younger athletes.
With many underclassmen making up the rest of the dance team, Allen is full of anticipation for her squad's success this fall.
"We only have one returning senior in Brooklyn, but she has been great and a leader for most of these younger girls," Allen said. "And we have a lot of show choir kids this year, so I am very excited for them to join us and give us a little bit of something else. We have a lot of confidence, so we just need to keep working on our skill sets and keeping that up until the first competition."
The cheer team graduated four seniors from last year's group, but bring back two more to fill this year's senior class. Amelia Bruguier and Cetia Wright are set to lead the squad this fall alongside juniors Karly Egil and Ella Johnston with competitions right around the corner.
The primary goal for competitive cheer coach Alisha Lockhart throughout the summer was to get back to the basics of the sport for her young group.
"I have so many new kids on my team, and so we really focused on the fundamentals this summer with good technique," Lockhart said. "Who works with who? Where does the height work? Who is strong? How do I fit pieces together? It has been a learning curve at times, but overall it's been pretty positive."
Wright, who is going into her sixth year with the team, and Bruguier, who is going into her second year, are circled as the two senior leaders on the competitive cheer team, as the Kernels look to improve from last year's ninth-place result at the Class AA state cheer championships.
Schlimgen returns for her senior season to form a strong base for the competitive dance team, as Mitchell looks forward to a refined year after a 15th-place finish at the Class AA state dance championships in 2025.
With practices off and running for both teams, it has been about building around the technique required to succeed for each routine. The competitive dance team will perform hip-hop and jazz routines out of the three categories for scoring, while the competitive cheer team will put on one comprehensive routine over the course of the season.
For both teams, it will come down to the operation's execution to achieve higher scores this fall. While adjustments will be made as the season progresses, both cheer and dance coaches are looking for ways to improve and minimize errors in this year's competitions.
"I think just consistency," Allen said. "I don't want them to drop some days and go up some days. I just want them to be very consistent through the full year, so that way we can keep that and go into the next year."
"Our focus every year is to do what we can at the level we can do it the most safely and the most cleanly," Lockhart said. "We may not be shooting for the maximum difficulty, but we are shooting for the maximum cleanliness. Just because we aren't doing the most difficult routine, doesn't mean we can't max out in execution."
Mitchell competitive cheer and dance start the season at the Aberdeen Central Invitational at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. The Kernels' home meet takes place at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3, at MHS.