By JUSTIN LIBERTOSKI
Ironwood - Luther L. Wright hosted the second annual Great Northern Cheer Challenge on Saturday afternoon.
Teams from Hurley, Ironwood, L'Anse and Negaunee participated in the competition.
The Ironwood Red Devils took first place for the second year in a row, followed by L'Anse in second place, Hurley in third, and Negaunee taking home fourth place.
According to the program, "The goal of this competition is to be a fun and positive experience for cheer squads of all abilities from schools of all sizes in the western U.P. and northern Wisconsin to perform for their cheer fans."
Each squad was judged based on general appearance, showmanship/connection with the crowd, variety of skills/degree of difficulty, use of music, overall execution, precision/sharpness, technique and voice quality.
The judges were Kai Movrich, Melissa Simpson, Erin Shei-Carter and Amanda Lopac.
After the routines were done, each of the schools participated in games such as the hoola hoop race, the cheer caterpillar, the hungry dragon and others, while they waited for the judges to tally the scores.
The L'Anse Purple Hornets brought home the spirit stick.