Highland cheer wins eighth straight state championship, second straight national title

POCATELLO — The Highland Rams won their 17th state cheer championship this season, with the last eight of those titles coming consecutively. But their dominance in the sport goes well beyond the Gem State. Last month, Highland won its second straight JAMZ national championship.

Head coach Jessica Gallup told EastIdahoSports.com that the pressure of that success and Highland’s championship legacy gets heavier with each passing season.

“It’s a lot,” she said. “Not only is it pressure, it’s really stressful — we have a lot of emotional breakdowns in the background before we get on the stage because you just feel all that — you get just one shot, and that’s what’s scary.”

But, she added:

“And they always rise to the occasion. They’re very, very dedicated girls, very driven.”

For the 34 athletes that made up the Highland cheer team, even the six seniors who had won there before, the national championships present several new issues.

For starters, they are performing in the largest room any of them have performed in, in front of the largest crowd any of them have performed in front of. Adding on to that pressure, the bright stage lights make it nearly impossible to see.

Couple that with the deafening sound of the large auditorium and massive crowd, and flying through the air might seem like a nightmare.

But Baylee McCurdy, a senior and one of the flyers who are sent hurdling through the air, insists that she was never scared.

“You have so much trust in (your teammates), because you’ve practiced countless hours,” she said. “I will throw my life in their hands and not even care.”

McCurdy grew up going to Highland cheer camps and dreaming of one day cheering for the Rams. But, a lifelong dancer, she was nervous to jump from dance to cheer when she got to high school.

“But I’m really glad I made the switch my last year, and got to experience it and be a state champion,” she said.

Miley Gallup, a senior and four-year cheerleader, has been part of four state championships and two national championships. She called the success she was a part of the ultimate reward.

“We put in so much work,” she said. “It’s really rewarding at the end of the year, because this is what we’re working for at all the practices. So it’s really cool to experience that.”

Cheerleading is a unique sport because cheer squads technically practice for more than one sport.

Throughout the year, cheerleaders train to cheer for other sports — football in the fall and basketball in the winter — all the while training for their own competitions, which are also in the fall.

Miley broke down the yearly cheer schedule:

Tryouts, she said, are in April. And once the team is formed, practices begin immediately. Those practices ramp up in the summer, culminating in a three-day camp at the end of summer, serving as a massive training getaway and team-building session.

When school starts in the fall, practices get longer — because they are preparing their football halftime show and their competition performance. They shift into an even higher gear in the fall.

“They are very, very busy Monday through Thursday — especially during basketball season, because there are four games a week and practice four days a week,” Jessica said, explaining that the cheer team will often have practice and a basketball game, keeping them together from 3 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.

Through all of that, the Rams were not only state and national champs, but they were also academic state champs.

After spending hours cheering for everyone else while preparing to bring unrivaled success to their school, the Highland cheerleaders can feel a bit underappreciated.

It is uncommon for the student body to show up for their competitions, or for classmates to form a send-off group when they leave for competitions.

But this year, things were a little different.

With the state championships held in Idaho Falls, Jessica said, students showed up to cheer for their cheerleaders. And the Highland baseball team lined the walkway to the buses to send them off to state.

“That was a first that I’ve ever seen,” Jessica said of the baseball team’s send-off.

“It was good to see that people cared,” added senior Charly Henderson.

With the season now over — along with the cheer career for some — Highland’s seniors took a minute to recall their fondest memories of the season, and high school cheer careers. For all of them, the memories revolved around the bonds they formed.

Brianna Dabell recollected her freshman year, when the older girls on the team welcomed her and made her comfortable, so she tried to do the same this year.

For Maggie Ward, it was also freshman year, when she and the girls she roomed with at camp danced to the Korean pop song Gangnam Style and just let loose. Miley will always remember the hotel room stays during competitions, when the cheerleaders would support each other and help relieve the nerves of the competition without ever vocalizing those nerves.

Henderson recalled winning titles and enjoying the sweet victory with her teammates.

“It was so fun,” she said. “It’s fun to be able to hang out with your team, and be able to experience that with them.”

For Jessica, the most special time of the year is the end-of-year banquet, when the cheerleaders talk about their personal growth.

“It’s fun for me to watch how they progress and mature,” the coach said, calling it the “most rewarding” part of the job.

With just six seniors on the squad this season, Highland will be back ready to defend their eight state titles and two national titles next season, with many of the same faces smiling from the stage.