Cheney cheer team 4th in state

BATTLE GROUND — Cheney’s competitive cheerleading team finished fourth out of 16 teams in state at Battle Ground High School.

In the Jan. 24-25 event, the Cheney team competed in the 2A/3A Game Day Medium division, the biggest division of the entire state cheerleading tournament.

The team ranked 11th after its November competition. But the girls came back with a vengeance and finished fourth, a historic placement for Cheney High School.

“Over the month of December and early January, we worked on changing our routine to increase the difficulty and visual appeal while still trying to create something that was unique, fun, and represented who we are as a team,” Coach Ty McBride said.

The strategy paid off.

McBride said placing fourth is not what impressed him the most.

“They (Cheney cheerleaders) were constantly screaming for every single school and making it a priority to sit in the front for teams that had nobody,” he said.

“(That’s) really what (made) me emotional and makes me feel like we’ve won it all.”