Watertown High School's competitive cheer team finishes second in the Watertown Invitational

Watertown High School's competitive cheer and dance teams finally got to host their annual invitational competition on Thursday.

Since the South Dakota High School Activities Association sanctioned cheer and dance in 2007, Watertown's home invite has always been held in late August. It was pushed back to October this year.

Tuesday's meet included 10 cheer and nine dance squads.

Cheer Division

The highlight for Watertown definitely came in the cheer division when the Arrows compiled an overall score of 278.5 and finished second behind Harrisburg 281.5.

Brookings was thrid at 273.5, followed by Tea Area (249.0), Mitchell (226.5), Brandon Valley (224.0), Dell Rapids (223.5), Yankton (207.5), Pierre (201.0) and Aberdeen Central (189.0).

"What an exhilarating performance for the Arrow Cheer team," Watertown cheer coach Malory Hoffmann said. "It's always exciting and nerve wracking to perform in front of our home crowd and the girls were up to the task.

"They had great energy and performed their stunts, tumbling and jumps with high execution. I'm so proud of them and the hard work they put into their routine this season."

Dance Division

Brandon Valley topped the dance division with a score of 288.5, followed by Yankton (271.5), Harrisburg (270.75), Pierre (253.25), Aberdeen Central (248.5), Mitchell (238.75), Tea Area (218.5), Brookings (215.0) and Watertown (213.52).

Brandon Valley had the top score of jazz (286.0) and pom (291.0) and Harrisburg topped the field in hip hop (278.0).

Other jazz scores included Yankton (270.0). Harrisburg (263.5), Tea Area (225.5) and Watertown (216.0). Yankton took second in pom (273.5), followed by Pierre (255.0), Aberdeen Central (247.0), Brookings (222.0), Mitchell (217.5) and Watertown (211.04).

Pierre took second in hip hop (251.5), Aberdeen Central third (250.0), Mitchell fourth (220.0), Tea Area fifth (214.5) and Brookings sixth (210.0).

The Arrow dance team competed without head coach Carolyn Fraher, who was gone for personal reasons.

Heading down the home stretch

The season is winding down quickly for Watertown and Aberdeen Central's squads. The Arrows and the Golden Eagles are slated to compete in the Eastern South Dakota Conference Championships on Thursday at Brandon Valley before concluding their season with the state Class AA competition on Saturday, Oct. 26 at Rapid City.

Thursday's meet included a vast majority of the conference schools.

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"Tonight's meet was a trial run for ESD with every team competiting but Huron and Dell Rapids cheer also competing," Hoffmann said. "It will be a tight race for the top three places in cheer. We are still refining our routines and trying to earn more points in difficulty and execution."

Harrisburg is the six-time defending ESD champion in cheer. Brandon Valley won the conference title in dance last fall and is the three-time defending state Class AA champion. Sioux Falls Jefferson is the defending state champion in cheer.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Watertown High School's competitive cheer team finishes second in the Watertown Invitational