Saint Peter High School

This is the third year of the Saint Peter High School’s cheerleading program’s “rebirth” after it was reinstated at the start of the 2022-23 school year. This year, Saints head cheer coach Tasha Timmerman and her squad have added competitive cheerleading to the mix.

“As part of our ongoing vision for the SPHS Cheer Program, it was always our plan to introduce a competitive element,” Timmerman said. “We are thrilled to announce that we will be doing this in just our third year back! We have been fortunate to maintain an average of 25 girls in our program since the fall of 2022. This year, we are excited to have our largest Varsity Sideline Team yet, consisting of 18 girls.

“With the solid numbers and some very dedicated girls, we thought the time just felt right to hit the ground running on the competitive side. The girls work extremely hard at growing and mastering skills, and they are always wanting to push themselves to the next level."

For those unfamiliar with Competition Cheer, teams can choose between Game Day or Traditional routines. This year, the Saints will be participating in the all-girl non-tumbling Traditional Routine. This involves a choreographed routine that includes a cheer, stunt, and dance, all of which cannot exceed two and a half minutes. Over the next month, the team members will work to perfect this routine before their official season starts.

The Saints will compete at the state level against similar-sized teams (15-19 members) at various schools around Minnesota. Additionally, on November 2, they will travel to Minnetonka to compete at the UCA Regional Competition, where they have the potential to earn a trip to Nationals at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, the second weekend of February.

There are 17 members of the Saints’ competitive cheerleading team and they are captained by senior Alexa Juarez and junior Jillayne Mclean. Those two have been a part of the Saints’ cheerleading program since it was revived two years ago and both are excited about how the new competitive team is coming together this season.

“I feel most excited about how it has all worked out with competitive cheer,” Juarez said. “The girls have improved so much from the first time we saw them this summer to now. We really enjoyed cheerleading the past two years, but now that we’re starting competitive cheer it is even more fun.”

“I’ve been very impressed with our ninth graders, who all were new to cheerleading this year,” Mclean said. “They work really hard and you can tell that they went home and practiced on their own time. They have fit in very well with the older girls and we have really gotten close as a team.”

The team is being led by Timmerman with the help from assistant coaches Maria Figueroa, Karen Soderlund, and Nancy Torres. The team is also getting a lot of help, including help with their competitive routine, from Minnesota State University-Mankato cheer coach Bridgette Altmann.

“Our coaches have really worked hard with us and with (MSU’s coach) Bridgette Altmann’s help I have high hopes for us in our first year of competitive cheer,” Juarez said. 

“We have some girls on the team, like myself, who have been a part of competitive dance teams and that is going to help a lot because we have experience in this kind of situation,” Mclean said.

The Saints first competition is Saturday, Oct. 12 at Lakeville South High School.

Saints Competitive Cheerleading roster

HEAD COACH - Tasha Timmerman
ASSISTANT COACHES - Maria Figueroa, Karen Soderlund, Nancy Torres
MSU CHEER COACH - Bridgette Altmann
SENIORS – Alexa Juarez (captain), Ella Erickson, and Rhylea Boswell.
JUNIORS – Jillayne Mclean (captain), Cecily Jacobs, Ceejae Marroquin, Bella Julius, Lila Klause, and Valeria Torres.
SOPHOMORES – Emily Guerra, Eva Erickson, Janissa Parras, Rylee Trullinger, and Genesis Castro.
FRESHMEN – Jocelyn Gutierrez, Makayla Guth, and Tabita Hernandez Jarquin.
TEAM MANAGER - Miquel Cruz

Below are some more photos of the Saints cheerleaders in action at the first home football game of the season back on August 30th.