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For one team it was a forgotten uniform and first-performance jitters, for the other team it was a couple of missed steps at the regional competition, which left the desire for a better performance. The Moffat County High School dance and cheer teams hope that those miscues are behind them when they compete in the state championships in Denver Saturday.

"We've worked through some long, stressful practices since regionals," said sophomore cheerleader Emily Sharp. "We're excited to be able to perform for ourselves, not for a game."

While the cheer team regularly competes at state, the dance team will be performing in its first state competition since the team was started two years ago.

"We're looking forward to seeing where we are compared to the state," said junior Kelsey Bauman. "To get the chance to perform in front of so many people and professional judges is a big step for us."

Both teams are relatively young with no seniors on either squad.

"Our young cheerleading team is doing stuff at a level higher than older teams I've had," coach Suzy Lord said. "The dancers have really worked well together as a team these past few weeks."

After regionals the cheerleaders said they have worked on stunting and their backhand springs.

"It's a matter of us being tighter," said April Rubley. "We also have to make sure our more advanced stunts are performed well."

The dance team hopes to learn from experienced teams to know what to expect next year when all of the dancers return.

"We have a lot of rookies," Nicole MacIntyre said. "We want to go in and do the best we can and then see what other teams are capable of."

The dance team only had one other team to learn from at the regional and they scored higher then that team.

"It will give us a better idea of what others can do," said Cassidy Young.

"We have had some good, long practices to prepare," said Christalin Thompson. "We've got a routine that could go very well."

The cheerleaders had to make adjustments the last week of practice because of a change of members.

"We had to change things on the last day last year," Rubley said. "This year our changes came earlier so we shouldn't be too affected by it."

One thing that will be different for the cheerleaders is the absence of boys on the team, but they hope that won't matter.

"We're able to do some big stunts ourselves," Sharp said. "We're OK without them."

Saturday is the big stage of the year for both squads and Lord has been doing her best to get them both prepared.

"The intensity level at state it great and it is something I've been trying to get the dance team ready for," she said. "For the cheer team I'm hoping that the changes we made late go well."

David Pressgrove can be reached at 824-7031 or dpressgrove@craigdailypress.com