Cheerleaders take first at district

The Mountain Home High School cheerleaders, officially known these days as the Yell Squad, captured first place at the District cheerleading competition this weekend.

Coach Sara Smith, a math teacher at the high school, said the mixed squad of five males and eight females competed in a series of judged competitions, including cheering, dancing, tumbling and stunts.

"It's the first time we've ever won," Smith said with pride. "Nampa's been the top team in SIC 4A since as long as I can remember, and we finally took it away from them."

Besides cheering the team on at football and basketball games, the squad also holds fundraisers throughout the year, participates in local parades and conducts its annual mini-cheer clinic for elementary students.

Friday the squad leaves for Las Vegas to compete against teams from across the country in the national Cheerleading Association U.S. Cheer Championship. They qualified to participate last fall during a cheerleading camp conducted in Salt Lake City.

On March 18 they head to the Idaho Center to compete in the Idaho high school state cheerleading championship competition.

Members of the squad are: Donna Matson (captain), Marcus Schmidt (captain), Kacy Barrie (captain), Breanna White, Whitney Playle, Kendra Pratt, Michelle Cherry, Elizabeth Cherry, Laurie Blanchard, Tristin Stempfley, Eric Smith, Jeff Vogl, Levi VandeBerg and Brendan Goodsell.

The team includes one alternate. The assistant coach is Bethany Stamps.