YANKTON, S.D. – The 2021 competition season is underway for the Concordia University Cheer program. In conjunction with basketball games that took place at Mount Marty on Wednesday (Jan. 13), the Bulldogs defeated the Lancers, 59.2 to 52.5. The cheer competition took place inside the Ruth Donohoe First Dakota Fieldhouse on the Mount Marty campus in Yankton, S.D. It marked the first time that Mount Marty had ever hosted cheer and dance events.
Head Coach Mandi Maser is in her fifth season leading the Concordia Cheer and Dance programs. She was named the 2020 GPAC Cheer Coach of the Year. Last season, the Bulldogs turned in GPAC place finishes of sixth in both cheer and dance.
“We have to continue to get past the anxious nerves in order to hit the stunting of the routine,” Maser said. “We have to be together and precise, no movement when we get our flyers in the air. We came down on pyramid, which is a scored element of the routine. We had a little bit of a spacing issue. They know what went wrong and what we have to do when we get back into the gym, and how they can increase their scoring. It’s a two-and-a-half minute shot – either you hit it or you don’t.
“It was a really nice venue to be in. Mount Marty did a nice job hosting it. It’s great to have another GPAC school that has the option (to host cheer and dance in separate venues).”
Maser’s teams are captained by junior Josie O’Laughlin and senior Cora Rhode in cheer and by junior Haleigh Fitzsimmons and senior Michelle Porath in dance.
The cheer squad will host a competition for the first time in 2021 when it welcomes Morningside to Seward on Saturday. The two sides will go head-to-head inside the PE Center Gym at halftime of the men’s basketball game. The start time will be at approximately 3:30 p.m. CT.