Cheer team places last but improves scores

Plagued by injuries and illness and only able to put six athletes on the mat at its home meet on Saturday, the Custer competitive cheer team continues to move forward with a positive team-building attitude.
The cheerleaders placed last among the five teams in the cheer portion of the cheer and dance invite after having to drastically change its routine at the last minute.
“Even being able to make it onto the mat was a win,” said coach Sheri Deatherage, “because we lost one of the main bases and one of our fliers on very short notice.”
“It had been a very, very rough week for injuries, COVID and everything else,” said Deatherage, noting the absences put a great deal of strain on the athletes who are there every day making them more prone to injuries.
Deatherage said one of her athletes had to drop out after the Youth Cheer Clinic the team sponsored on Friday and she pulled the other one just before the meet on Saturday morning.
The coach said the student didn’t look well so she made the call to sideline her, noting “no competition is that important.”
“Luckily we had a new athlete who had joined the team a couple weeks ago and had been coming to practice regularly,” said Deatherage, “and she was able to step in and pull off some of the stunts.”
Deatherage said if the new team member wouldn’t have been able to step in, the alternative would have been to perform the routine with no stunts which “would have been a mess.”
“As a testament to them, their score actually didn’t drop from the previous competition,” noted Deatherage, “even with losing two of main athletes in our team.”
And, the coach said, there was yet another silver lining in Saturday’s situation.
“Our big win is that we did get to debut a new cheer to just get feedback on it and it was the best we have done on the cheer section this entire season,” said Deatherage.
The opening part of the routine involved the use of double-sided cards spelling out the words Custer and Wildcats, and the performance led to improved scores in that category of the competition.
“We were super excited to be able to do that on our home court,” said Deatherage. “We  ended up with a 4.5 out of five.”
 Because of the current situation and the need to train a new flyer, Deatherage has decided to pull out of Thursday’s scheduled competition in Sturgis. She said that will hopefully give the team time to prepare to put a solid team on the mat for the Black Hills Conference meet at Spearfish on Thurs., Oct. 14.
“If we could get a hunk of time when we could get it together without people being out for illness and injury we be able to put things together,” said the coach.
Deatherage said she is hoping to have at least nine of her 10 team members ready to participate at conference.  
“If I can get all nine on the mat that will be amazing,” she said.
Reflecting that even though the team is “taking black eyes left and right,” Deatherage said the cheerleaders are still excitedly looking forward to the rest of the season and the State A finals scheduled for Brandon on Oct. 22-23.