Kearney Competitive Cheer Earns State Berth After Regional Third |
Bulldogs finish just 1.7 points out of first at Liberty North and advance to the Oct. 24 state championship in Columbia |
Kearney High School Varsity Cheer is state-bound after taking third place at the regional competition on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Liberty North High School.
The Bulldogs finished just 1.7 points behind first place and qualified for the Oct. 24 state championship at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
The regional result gives Kearney supporters a recent achievement to celebrate while the team prepares for its next competition.
Preparation took a different path this season.
Instead of spending months on one competition routine, the team worked through summer and fall on individual skills, sideline presence and school traditions.
The complete routine came together in less than a week before regionals. |
 Illustrative competitive-cheer image; not a photograph of the Kearney regional performance. Photo by Styves Exantus on Pexels. Source: https://www.pexels.com/@styves-exantus-7162424 |
That short assembly period made the regional performance a test of teamwork as well as technique.
Kearney earned some of the session's highest marks in dance, creativity, performance and pyramids.
The Bulldogs also completed their routine without deductions or penalties, known in competitive cheer as hitting zero.
Only three teams in their session reached that standard.
A third-place finish may leave room to climb the standings, but it also secured the opportunity that mattered most: a place at state.
The narrow gap to first place shows how close the regional competition was. |
 Illustrative competitive-cheer stunt; not a photograph of the Kearney regional performance. Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels. Source: https://www.pexels.com/@cottonbro |
The next competition is scheduled for Oct. 24 in Columbia, outside this newsletter's Oct. 12–18 coverage window.
The qualifying result gives the team time to build on its regional strengths before returning to competition.
For families and other Bulldog fans, the next milestone is already on the calendar.
The district congratulated the cheerleaders and coaches for the composure, teamwork and determination they showed at regionals.
The team now carries that performance into the state competition.
Congratulate a cheerleader or coach, share the team's achievement with another Bulldog supporter, and tell us what you would like to see in our next cheer update. |
Sources: Kearney School District and KPGZ News — Brian Watts. |
32 Comments
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state bound baby. Lets gooo bulldogs
I saw some of the other regional results online and the competition was really tough this year. Third place is legit.
Spending summer on fundamentals is the right call. Teams that skip the basics usually fall apart when it counts.
Always proud of our Kearney girls. Good luck at state sweethearts!!
Third at regionals with less than a week of full routine practice. Imagine what they can do with three weeks to prep for state.
Hope the school sends a bus or two down to Columbia. Student section showing up would mean a lot to these kids.
Oct 24 at Mizzou. Mark your calendars Kearney. These girls deserve a big crowd cheering them on.
how does the scoring work at these things? Curious what the 1.7 points covered
Oct. 24 is coming up fast. Will there be another update before the team heads to Mizzou?
Third is a good result, though that small gap doesn't guarantee the next competition will be close. Keep working, Bulldogs.
Kearney cheer has been a great program for years. Nice to see them back at state again.
Building the whole routine in under a week is either genius or terrifying. Either way it worked so I guess no complaints.
The summer work on individual skills seems to have paid off. Congratulations to the coaches too.
My niece is on this team and she has been working so hard all season. So glad it is paying off for them.
good luck at state!! Bring home a trophy bulldogs
I think qualifying for state matters more than where they placed this time. Plenty to build on.
Putting a whole routine together in less than a week sounds stressful. Hope they have a little more breathing room before Columbia.
I'd like to know how the regional scoring works. Is the state routine judged the same way?
Third place and a trip to state, well done Bulldogs! That 1.7 point gap sounds pretty close.
I love that they focused on sideline presence and school traditions this season. Cheer is about more than just competition routines.
Not a cheer person but even I can appreciate finishing that close to the top and making state. Congrats Kearney.
1.7 points is nothing. On a different day that could easily be first place. Keep it up ladies.
We drove out to Liberty for this and the girls looked fantastic. The crowd was really into it too.
Congrats to the girls! State at Mizzou is going to be such a great experience for them.
Liberty North is a tough host school. Competing there and placing third is nothing to hang your head about.
Spending the summer on individual skills instead of one routine sounds like a smarter way to build a stronger team overall. Good coaching.
less than a week to put the routine together and they qualified for state lol that is wild. Good for them
Third place out of how many teams? Would be nice to know the full results but still congrats either way.
Columbia on Oct 24. Hope the whole town shows up to support them. Go Bulldogs!
My daughter cheers on JV and she looks up to these girls so much. So happy for the varsity team!!
Putting the routine together in less than a week before regionals and finishing third? That is honestly impressive.
1.7 points behind first place and they still made state. That is so close. Proud of these girls!