BROOKINGS The Brookings competitve cheer team has already improved this season after two competitions.
The Bobcats came in fourth place in their first competition of the year in Aberdeen. Brookings then finished in fourth in a competition in Mitchell but increased its score by almost 40 points in between the two competitions. Bobcat head coach Hanna Siemonsma said that made it a great start to the season.
We went to Aberdeen on Aug. 30 and we scored a 246.5, which was a pretty good start to the season. We had a lot of work to put in after that. Then we were in Mitchell [on Sept. 4] and scored a 284.5. So we increased by almost 40 points, which was great. We were trailing first and second, second was Sioux Falls Jefferson, and they were a point above us, and then Harrisburg was 3.5 points above us. Id say it was a really good start to the season. [Most of the fixes between the two competitions were] cleaning up our transitions between skills and eliminating any bobbles and touchdowns in tumbling., Siemonsma said.
Brookings will look to its upperclassmen to lead the team this year and that begins with 11 seniors. Siemonsma said the seniors have worked their way for this moment to help lead the Bobcats to a strong year in 2025.
We have 21 athletes. 11 are seniors and we have two juniors, two middle schoolers and the rest are sophomores. Weve had most of them for their entire career. Theyve really shaped the team. We pull a lot of talent from them and theyve honestly been leading the team since their freshmen and sophomore years. Theyre very knowledgeable and passionate. Its going to be a great season with them, Siemonsma said.
Brookings graduated just two seniors from last years team that finished in third at the State Meet. Siemonsma said the Bobcats have already completed one of their season goals but they need to remain consistent before the Eastern South Dakota Meet on Oct. 17 in Brandon and the State Meet on Oct. 26 in Rapid City.
Last year we finished third [at the State Meet] with a 277, Siemonsma said. So, originally, going into the year, one of our goals was to finish with a higher score than a 277, which is a program high for us. We would also like to see ourselves sitting in third again. We’ve already broken the 277, but wed like to finish second in the [Eastern South Dakota Conference Meet] and third at State.
Its going to take a lot of cleaning up. The skills are all there. Were at the highest difficulty that we can be. We just need to finish up our execution of everything and make sure that were staying within reach of Jefferson and Harrisburg, Siemonsma said.
The Bobcats next competition is Friday in Yankton at 5 p.m.
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