Mitchell cheer, dance teams post second-best scores of season at ESD meet at the Corn Palace

After not competing for three weeks, the Mitchell cheer and dance teams put together their second-best scores of the season at the Eastern South Dakota Conference meet Friday at the Corn Palace.

The Mitchell cheer team finished in fourth place in the stunting/non-tumbling category with 150.5 points. The Mitchell dance team scored 189 points in the large group hip-hop division. The Kernels were the only large group team competing in that category.

“Overall, I think the girls did pretty well,” Mitchell cheer and dance coach Angie Sivertsen said. “They were excited to be here in front of the home crowd.

“There were some safety deductions that we will work on and have to improve, but this is the second-highest dance score and second-highest cheer score, so not bad.”

Brookings won the overall cheer competition with 242.5 points. Last year, Brookings lost the cheer competition by half point. This year, Brookings beat Watertown by three points.

Yankton won the overall dance competition with 237.33 points, almost six points better than second-place Brandon Valley.

Sivertson said the team met the expectations she set for them.

“The things they changed, they did great with,” she said. “The new stunts that they put into place, they did well with. We are really proud with were they are at.”

This was the first time the Corn Palace has ever hosted a cheer and dance competition. In 2014, the Corn Palace will host the state competition.

Corn Palace Director Mark Schilling said cheer and dance is a great event to host.

“We are very pleased with the crowd that we have here (Friday),” said Schilling, who estimated just over 1,000 people attended the event. “We knew with the number of athletes that are participating in it … we expected a large crowd. This was larger than we thought we would get.

“I know at the front desk when they were selling tickets, they needed more change and the concessions stands were busy. It’s encouraging to see this many people participating in it.”

The state meet is Nov. 12 in Brandon.

“Going into next week, there are a few things we will change,” said Sivertsen, whose team qualified for the state meet by competing in two or more meets this regular season. “But we are sitting at a place where I like going into the state meet.”

For full results, see page A8.

Mitchell’s full roster for the cheer and dance teams are listed below:

Coach: Angie Sivertsen

Asst. Coach: Amanda Gilman

Cheer: Johanna Allen, Jordan Barnhart, Michaela Bigge, Taylor Christensen, Terra Deckert, Katie Gregg, Allie Hanson, Courtney Hellman, Nakkia Johnston, Natalie Kobes, Arin Krogman, Kayla Majercik, Hailey McWane, Avery Roy, Rylee Sanders, Melissa Sedlmeier, Trystin Smith, Cassidy Stucky, Darby Swenson, Hailey Walz, Ashton Weigand, Darby Weiss, Sonja Wells, Taylor Wold.

Dance: Johanna Allen, Jordan Barnhart, Michaela Bigge, Taylor Christensen, Terra Deckert, Brittany Gebhart, Katie Gregg, Allie Hanson, Courtney Hellman, Natalie Kobes, Kayla Majercik, Hailey McWane, Haley Muth, Rylee Sanders, Trystin Smith, Cassidy Stucky, Darby Swenson, Hailey Walz, Ashton Weigand, Darby Weiss, Sonja Wells, Taylor Wold.

Tags: sports, updates, cheer, dance, kernels