Photo courtesy of Kaitlyn Reams

Today is the Iowa Cheerleading Coaches’ Association State Championships and one high school is a veteran and has been participating for several years.

Adel-DeSoto-Minburn Cheerleading Head Coach Kaitlyn Reams says this year they are competing in the cheer/dance division for Class 3A. She points out last year they placed ninth in the stunt group, but decided to go to cheer/dance for this year. Reams describes what is involved in the cheer/dance category.

“So we have to incorporate into our routine a cheer, that’s like fast-paced motions in that cheer, we do a pyramid, which involves flipping and spinning. We also have to do like elite stunts where our fliers are flying on one leg and pulling down from those to get the most points. We do basket tosses which are also a part of stunting. There’s tumbling in there as well and we have girls that are flipping. And then we are scored on our jumps and our dance.” 

Reams notes that since the choreography was released at the end of last May, they only held optional open gyms throughout the summer. Then in August, the 14 cheerleaders who are going to compete tonight, started twice per week practices and had two additional practices for football. At the end of September, the competition team started doing four days of practices.  

The ADM cheerleaders are the final group to perform at the Jacobsen Center on the Iowa State Fairgrounds at 8:45pm, right before the awards ceremony. The public is invited to support the cheerleaders and tickets are $10 each.