It takes a while to build a foundation. 

For the Cottonwood cheerleading program, it seems like it’s taken a long while to do. 

But, the bricks have been going up for several years. 

That slow rebuilding of a once-proud tradition of Colts cheerleading teams culminated in early January when Cottonwood took third place in Dance at the 4A Divisionals. 

“Coach Madi Anderson and her assistant coaches have done a terrific job with the cheer team this year,” said Cottonwood athletic director James MacIntyre. “Their success feels like a reward to the high level of commitment every girl on that team has to their team and to our high school.” 

At divisionals, the Colts competed against schools such as Green Canyon (Logan), Jordan, Provo and Timpanogos out of Utah County and Sky View (northern Cache County). That is a wide swath of schools to have to be competing against if you’re Cottonwood. 

And yet the Colts competed well enough in earlier meets that began in early December 2025, to earn a spot in the 2nd Divisionals, the fourth-highest seeded team from Region 10 going into the divisional round. 

This resurgence of Cottonwood cheerleading has been a pet project of head coach Madison Anderson since she first accepted the position. 

Anderson was all too aware of Cottonwood’s storied history in cheer; she watched Colts teams in the 2010s compete in, and win trophies on a regular basis, at a national level. The difference is that when they competed, cheerleading was not sanctioned by the Utah High School Athletics and Activities Association, colloquially known as the UHSAA. 

That has since changed. 

As of 2023, the UHSAA officially recognized competitive cheer as a sport in Utah high schools. 

And since that point, Crimson Cliffs out of Washington County in Southern Utah has ruled Class 4A, winning all three state championships thus far. 

The next state championships takes place at the UCCU Center on the Utah Valley University campus, bright and early Saturday morning, on Jan. 21. 

It was a season that began back at the end of the last school year, but it can be argued that it has been the most rewarding in recent memory. 

Individually, Cottonwood was also honored when Piper Pearson won her jump-off at Divisionals and will advance to state. 

For a team that even included a first-time participant in the sport this year according to coach Anderson, along with several transfers new to the program, these are incredible honors in such a labor-intensive sport. 

Along with the resurgence of the Cottonwood Chaparrals drill team under its head coach Jill Garcia, this Cottonwood cheer squad is beginning to make some noise. 

All of this preparation has resulted in having several Colts named to all-tournament squads at the past three Utah Cheer Association camps, designations that included three All-American honors and one state honor, just in 2024 alone. 

Though the cards were always going to be stacked in 2025-26 against Cottonwood qualifying as a team for state—let alone finishing in the top five in any category—there is always a possibility for more success in the future, based simply on how the Colts competed at these Divisionals. 

With a head coach the girls refer to as “Madi” and a team consistently infused with a steady stream of kindness and positivity, you really have to like these Colts chances, going into the next school year. 

The 2025-26 Colts cheer team was: Ada Judd, Alivia Carolan, Alyssa Oshiro, Aniles Holm, Arielle Ziv, Arjeta Avdin, Bailee Anderson, Bayla Linscott, Carla Rivas, Chloe Epperson, Emery Hawkes, Harlowe Telford, Jadalin Trujillo, Lauren Pesantes, London Nelson, Lyrik Brenchley, Mardi Peterson, Piper Pearson, Preston Sirstins, Rylin Anderson, Suzann Lual, Valeria Fajardo and Zenli Carpenter.