Poms pick up tips from Broncos pro

By JESSE CHANEY, Fort Morgan Times Staff Writer
Thursday, August 21, 2008

Although she coaches dancers from the University of Colorado at Boulder and regularly cheers for a crowd of more than 76,000 Denver Broncos fans, a humble Liz Harris was thrilled that local Coach Lisa Padgett trusted her to help instruct the Mustang Poms dance group from Fort Morgan High School.

“That makes me feel good because Lisa was always the one that I looked up to and was inspired by,” Harris said.



Along with Fort Morgan High School alum, Harris’ credentials include Denver Broncos cheerleader and coach for the CU Cheer Squad and the CU Express Dance Team. A longtime friend of Padgett, Harris returned to her alma mater on Monday to teach the Mustang Poms a routine she created for their Dec. 6 state dance competition.

The Colorado star is a former member of the local dance group, which was called the Fort Morgan High School drill team at that time.

Harris introduced the routine to the dance team for the first time during an all-day practice Monday. She said Padgett will make any modifications needed and help the team perfect the routine.


Liz Harris, a Denver Broncos cheerleader and Fort Morgan High School alum, rehearses a dance routine Monday with members of the FMHS Mustang Poms.

“If Lisa needs help or if they need some encouragement along the way, then I’m always available for that later on down the road,” she said.



If the Fort Morgan team performs well at the state event, Padgett said, she will consider allowing the group to compete in the National Dance Association (NDA) national dance competition. The Mustang Poms qualified for the national event with their success at the NDA dance camp in July at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.

Before graduating from Fort Morgan High in 2000, a young Harris danced alongside Padgett from 1990 to 1996 in the former Clarice Tatton School of Dance and Gymnastics.

Harris later followed in the footsteps of Padgett, who graduated from FMHS in 1995 and joined the CU Express Dance Team.

“I went and did the dance team at CU and now I coach it,” Harris said.

After completing two years at CU-Boulder, Harris enrolled in a Denver cosmetology school and later brought her business back to her hometown of Fort Morgan. The 26-year-old Harris bought her first house in Arvada in June, but she returns to Fort Morgan once each week to cut hair at Premier Salon.

“I like the community, I love all of my clients that I have and I enjoy coming back one day a week,” she said.

The daughter of Robert and Teri Harris, Liz said Fort Morgan is one of the stable things in her busy city life.

“I can go out to lunch and it only takes me three minutes to get there,” she said with a smile. “It’s nice to come back one day a week, and it keeps me grounded.”