From the small-town sidelines of Questa and Taos to the bright lights of Division I college cheer, Amadea “Dea” Gallegos is headed to Albuquerque to join the University of New Mexico (UNM) Lobos cheerleading team.
Dea, who began cheering at just five years old, recently graduated from Taos High School after winning five state championships during her high school career, and serving as captain of the varsity cheer team in her senior year. Now, she’s preparing to bring her passion, skills, and leadership to the UNM sidelines.
“Cheer just comes natural to me,” Dea said. “I’ve put my whole life into cheer, and now I get to do it at the next level.”
Her cheer journey in Questa began with coach Celina Gonzales, where she cheered alongside her cousins during halftime youth performances. In 2016, she joined Taos Extreme’s Allstar team, Glimmer, and quickly realized she had found her calling.
After attending Questa schools through sixth grade, Dea transferred to Taos Academy and cheered for Taos Middle School while returning to Xtreme. In 2021, she tried out for the Taos High School varsity team as an eighth-grader and made the team. “I made varsity during COVID so I didn’t get the full experience.Practices weren’t even as a group; we had to go to sessions. It was a very different time.”
Despite the unusual start, Gallegos became a five-year varsity cheerleader, eventually earning the role of team captain in her senior year. As she looks back on her high school cheer career, she says those years were filled with early mornings, intense workouts, and constant growth.
“The hardest part was waking up at 4 a.m. to commute from Questa to Taos for practices every day during the summers,” she said. Practices were at 5:30 a.m. so she and her dad Jeff Gallegos would head out around 4:30 a.m. Her mother, Eunice Gallegos, would pick her up when practice was done. “They were hard days, but I was dedicated. Cheer was my number one, so the sacrifice was just part of it.”
Dea’s family moved to Taos in 2023 during her sophomore year, making the cheer schedule more manageable. As she was nearing graduation, the reality started to hit her that this was the end of her cheer career. “I didn’t plan on trying out for college cheer, I really wanted to focus on school and take a little break,” Dea says. “But as we were preparing for the state competition, I kept finding myself emotional, realizing this could be the end, and I wasn’t ready for that. I heard people telling me they’d miss me, and I’d break down. It’s like: all this hard work cannot be for nothing!”
After Dea graduated, she attended cheer clinics at UNM giving her confidence to participate in a virtual tryout, from which she was invited to the final round of in-person tryouts.
“I bring something you can’t pass up,” she said with a smile. “I’m outgoing and I love to support my team. I work well with other athletes and I can adapt to their style or techniques.”
At UNM, she plans to major in dental hygiene while continuing to cheer during her prerequisites. She credits her coach at Taos High, Lisa Abeyta Valerio, with encouraging her to pursue leadership and reminding her to stay grounded in faith.
“She always said, ‘Let go, let God,’” Gallegos said. “She saw potential in me to be a team captain even though initially I wasn’t going to apply for it. Even though sometimes I didn’t understand her decisions as a coach, I look back and recognize that she sees and encourages potential in people. I get why now.”
Now, as Dea prepares to put on the cherry and silver uniform for the UNM Lobos, she reflects on her journey—from Questa to Taos, practices to state championships; “I’ve put too much into this to stop now,” she said. “This is just the beginning.”
This summer, Gallegos is also working with Spirit Express West, an organization that works across New Mexico and Colorado helping to train young cheerleaders in choreography, stunting, and team-building, a consistent testament to her passion for cheer.
