By Chris Cox

When Kingfisher cheer coaches Carma Reagan and Lori Burns were hired before the 2020-2021 school year, they inherited a squad that they said was void of expectations, goals, and basic technique. So that’s where they started. “We got back to the basic fundamentals of cheer,” Reagan says. “They (the cheerleaders) responded immediately! We had a great year placing third at competitive state after not even qualifying the year before.”

Reagan and Burns both have several years of cheer coaching experience, both had been out of coaching for about 15 years before landing at Kingfisher. While things like the Game Day competition are new, some things never change. One of the constants, no matter the year or decade, is the hard work it takes for a program to be successful. “The girls have done a great job turning this program around and setting a precedence for those who will after them,” Reagan says. “It has taken a lot of blood, sweat, and tears from all of us, including parents, to get back where we need to be.”

One aspect of rebuilding the program that Reagan and Burns are focusing on now is the culture of Kingfisher cheer. “Since we are in the early stages of building our team and working on the team-me concept, I don’t want to highlight certain athletes,” Reagan says. “I feel like all the girls give something unique to the squad and it takes all of us right now to get the job done. We are a small squad, so everyone has to show up and work hard every practice.” 

While Reagan is working on rebuilding the culture of Kingfisher cheer, she is seeing that change the culture around the school as well. “We had our first pep assembly recently and it had been three or four years since we had one,” Reagan says. “The student body did awesome! They are ready to build new traditions and continue old ones. The band played down the halls to the gym, coaches came, football players were involved, STUCO did a great job preparing, and the kids stood up and yelled. It was just a great day to be a Jacket! I am looking forward to many more of those.”

The Kingfisher cheer roster includes Makenna Willson (Sr), Cami Snodgrass (Sr), Courtney Butts (Jr), Gretchen Garrett (Jr), Ivy Hartman (Jr), Libbie Barnett (Soph), Ashley Casillas (Soph), Jaelin Cortes (Soph), Amy Deatherage (Soph), Anna Massey (Soph), Savannah Rosen (Soph), Harley Schlegel (Soph), Mia Hartman (Fr), and Kamryn Purintun (Fr).