Demon Cheer placed 12th at the State competition for the 2023-2024 season. The team earned an overall score of 160.3 points. 

Members of the cheer team report that they were not disappointed with their performance, but were disappointed with their placing. “I don’t think we deserved 12th place with how hard we worked,” says cheerleader Chanell Carrillo, a junior. “On top of that, we got no deductions on our routine. I don’t want to be too confident, but I do think we performed to the best of our ability and should’ve placed higher than other teams.”

This year’s cheer team had many first-time cheerleaders and freshmen. Assistant coach Marissa Branch elaborates on this: “This year was definitely a rebuilding year, being that 11 of 17 of our athletes were rookies. I am proud the team hit two solid routines, compared to the other teams in our division that received deductions.”

Nobody on the team expected to get 12th place, especially not the coaches. “While the outcome wasn’t what we were expecting, we are ready to take this year as a learning experience and move forward with building the program and continuing to support and represent Santa Fe High School,” expresses Coach Marissa. 

Coach Marissa is prepared for this next coming season, adding more requirements and a greater level of difficulty to the team. “We will have specific skill requirements to join the team for the upcoming season,” she explains, adding, “We will continue to promote growth mindset within the program and hold the team to a high standard.” 

Cheerleader Bella Nava, also a junior, expresses how this year’s team made growth from the beginning to the end of the season: “Considering that the team this year was a team full of people who have never cheered before, I think we did really well. No one saw the crazy growth and the ups and downs of our team; the comparison from where we started and ended is crazy.” 

Bella adds that the other teams in the division have the advantage of JV teams. “What also needs to be taken into consideration is the division we’re in,” she explains. “We go against crazy big teams who have the resources we don’t. They have JV teams that grow their athletes, so when they get to varsity they are already crazy good.” 

Other teams that placed before Santa Fe High in the 5-A division, including Alamogordo, Cibola, Piedra Vista, and Farmington, dropped stunts, stepped off the mat, and stepped on props. All of those errors are major deductions. However, Santa Fe High got zero deductions. 

Cleveland and Capital High were the teams that placed below Santa Fe High this season, with Capital in 13th place and Cleveland last. Many found this surprising as these two teams have always placed higher in their cheer category.