Monticello cheerleaders compete in state competition for first time in school history

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
Though the winter portion of the 2022-23 high school sports season is not yet concluded for Monticello High School, it has already been an exciting year for the Buckaroo cheerleaders.
For the first time in school history the girls competed in the Utah State Cheerleading Competition at Utah Valley University on January 25.
Though they didn’t bring home a medal, they battled hard, represented MHS very strongly, and set the tone for future teams.
Head Coach Kerri Murdock offered this recap of her team’s performance at the competition, which drew a large contingent of teams from the 1A through 5A classifications:
“Our classification (1A) was combined with 2A, which put us at an unfair disadvantage, but our girls went out and gave it their absolute best!
“At the South Region Competition, we qualified to take three out of our four routines to the State Competition. Our biggest win for this competition was with our Show Routine.
“It consists of a dance and cheer routine and we placed third at State, beating out two 2A teams as well as all other 1A teams that competed at state level.
“The 2A schools we competed against were North Summit, North Sevier, Parowan, Millard, and Duchesne. The 1A schools we competed against were Wayne, Altamont, Wendover, Tabiona, Altamont, and Piute.
“Our seniors this year have been great examples that our team and school can look up to. Cami Dowell was selected to be a member of the 2022-2023 All-State Cheer Team.
“Kamron Yoakam, Yanba Lee, Emma Peterson, and Hannah Crowley made the Academic All-State Team. Emmry Wilcox and Reagan Gill were two of our seniors we could always count on to build the team up and put in extra time outside of practice in order to help the team build their skills.
“This team has put in so much hard work this season. They have never given up on each other and have lifted each other up when they’ve needed it.
“Switching from sideline cheer to competition cheer has definitely presented some challenges and has pushed these girls to do things they haven’t done before.
“But the amount of growth these girls have made this year is amazing! I could not be more proud of each and every one of them.”
In addition to all the hard work put in by the cheerleaders this season, their coach’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed either. Coach Kerri Murdock was named 1A Coach of the Year at the State Competition.
Though it’s not over and the team will continue to support Buckaroo athletics through the remainder of the winter season and on into spring, congratulations to the girls and the coaches on an excellent Monticello High School cheerleading season.