Last Thursday, the Manhattan High cheerleaders traveled to Dodge City, along with the Varsity boys basketball team for a yearly three-day long tournament and showcase. 

While the boys played against the other teams, the MHS cheerleaders cheered them on. Not only did the MHS cheerleaders attend the tournament, but cheer teams from the other high schools also participated in the showcase with a group performance.

“The cheer teams cheered for the boys and performed a showcase before the last game of the second day to show off our skills collectively,” junior Rachel Hayden said.

The routines that MHS performed consisted of two routines, those being the two that all of the teams performed and their own set routine.

“We learned two dances to showcase with the other cheer teams there, and had our own routine also,” junior Rylie Vardiman said.

The Dodge City cheer team organized the entire event, which included choreographing the routines that all of the cheerleaders performed. However, the preparation process turned out to be kind of messy according to MHS Cheer.

“I didn’t like the organization of the showcase side of the [tournament],” Hayden said. “Dodge Cheer is responsible for planning the showcase and sending out the videos of the dances we were supposed to learn. I just personally felt like they could’ve made it run smoother and told the teams which parts to learn and the step by step routine, so we all didn’t look like clowns doing different versions of the same dance.”

After this year, many of the cheerleaders felt that this showcase was one of the highlights of their year. Being able to represent MHS, spend a few days with friends and watch intense games of basketball satisfied the cheerleaders, which has encouraged them to attend next year.

“I didn’t know what to expect honestly. We go every other year so this was my first year going,” Hayden said. “I loved supporting our boys and being able to go there and represent MHS and just show off our teams, as well as just having a weekend full of basketball and cheer.”