AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — Two teams at Aurora Central High School are making history as the first cheer and dance teams at their school to make the bid for nationals.
Sarah Bennett Allhusen, Head Cheer Coach for AC, said since she first started coaching in 2018, it was always her dream to make it to nationals.
“When we first started out, I started out with a team of five girls on this team,” Allhusen said. “To build this team up was huge. To make sure that all these girls were equipped with the necessary skills to be able to compete on a national stage was really, it was hard. And they can attest to that that. You know, it’s a lot of hard work and it takes a lot to get there.”
They also recently competed at state for the first time on Friday.
“Getting them to that point is just awesome and having that joy for them,” Allhusen said.
Girls on the cheer team said it has been a long time coming.
“There’s always been like a lot of sweat, tears on the mats,” said AC senior and cheer team captain, Angel Funez.
The AC Dance Team has also been hard at work, claiming their spot at nationals for the first time in school history as well.
“I’ve been on the team for three years now and we have not made it to nationals so I just, I’m very proud of them for doing something that we couldn’t and I just can’t wait to experience that with the girls,” said AC junior, Sanaa Wilson.
“This is our actual first year competing and in this first year I just wanted us to just go out there and try it and just do our best,” said AC Dance Head Coach, Bianca Hill. “And then knowing that we got the bid to nationals was just excitement on top of excitement.”
“I feel amazing,” said Mariah Hardrick, team captain of the AC Dance Team. “I’m so proud of my team. I’m thankful for my coaches.”
The nationals bid has not come without its share of challenges for this team.
“We have girls from all around so even some that barely speak English,” Hill said. “I have girls from Ghana too that also have some kind of English barriers but it’s been, it’s been a road just getting them to here and doing the type of dance that we’re doing is kind of out of the comfort but it’s amazing.”
Since AC is also a Title I school, it means the girls have to do a lot of fundraising in any way they can.
“We’ve got a lot of fundraisers,” Hill said. “We have two big ones coming up. We’re going to do a Skate City Skate Night like bringing in the new year with the dance team at Skate City and then we’re doing a community dance camp.”
“They have been doing a ton of fundraisers,” Allhusen said of her own team. “They just finished up with a Butter Braid fundraiser”
The Dance Team and the Cheer Team have also established their own GoFundMe fundraisers. Either way, the coaches said they are excited for their girls and putting AC on the map.
“It’s really exciting that not only do we have one team going to nationals but we have two so now we have two whole teams from Aurora Central that’s going to be shining a light on this school to say, ‘Look we’re here and we cannot be stopped’,” Allhusen said.
The AC Cheer Team will be performing in Las Vegas, Nevada at the New Orleans Arena in January. The AC Dance Team will be heading to Orlando, Florida in February.
