Adams All Business In Division 1 Title Repeat
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 26, 2021
EAST LANSING – Rochester Adams eked out its first Finals championship last year, but this time the Highlanders gave their nerves a little bit of a rest.
Adams posted the best score in all three rounds in Friday’s Division 1 championship competition at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center for a 790.52 total, nearly eight full points better than unexpected runner-up Grandville (782.60).
“We expected to win this year – that was our mindset,” said Claire Crutchfield, one of seven seniors on the Highlanders’ roster.
“Maybe we didn’t think we’d win by that much, but we have been working non-stop since state last year and all of that hard work has paid off.”
Plymouth (782.36) placed third after last year’s runner-up finish, and Grand Blanc (780.30) took fourth.
Adams now has finished either first or second in Division 1 four years in a row, with runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2019.
The Highlanders lost only four seniors off last year’s team and had a strong group of senior leaders this winter. Crutchfield and Olivia Ris are both returning first-team all-staters, Ava Bondra was second team in 2020, Melina Catenucci and Carly Schultz were honorable mention and the other seniors are Maya Dalal and Kennedy Lloyd.
Brooke Miller, who is in her seventh year as Adams coach, said her team’s business-like approach was critical Friday and throughout the season, as it won all but one competition all year.
“We do a lot of visualization and practice keeping our nerves in check,” explained Miller, who is assisted by Jocelyn Welsh, Quin Gonzalez and Alison Keaser. “Then when we get in a pressure situation, it’s kind of business-like. It’s just doing what we do.”
The win also solidified Rochester as the epicenter of Division 1 cheer in Michigan. The city in northern Oakland County has produced five of the past six D1 champions – with Rochester winning in 2016 and 2017 and Rochester Hills Stoney Creek in 2019.
The hardest part of the day for the Highlanders’ seniors was when it ended.
“I’ve never been on a team with a bond like this, so yeah, it was very bittersweet running off that mat for the last time,” said Schultz.
The biggest surprise of the day was Grandville, which didn’t even make the Finals last year and got off to slow start Friday, sitting in sixth place after the first round.
But the Bulldogs kept fighting and moved up to fourth after a solid second round. Then they nailed their third round to vault all the way to second when the final results were announced.
“What a Round 3; we really hit it,” said Grandville coach Julie Smith-Boyd, who is the dean of state cheer coaches in her 40th year. “We didn’t make it to state last year and we have a very young team, so just getting here was a big accomplishment – taking second is fantastic.”
Smith-Boyd has led Grandville to six Finals titles, the most recent in 2015, and now has 10 runner-up finishes.
This season’s may have been the most unanticipated of any of those top finishes, as the Bulldogs had just three seniors, who were also the team’s captains – Chloe Beatty, Ellie Irwin and Charli Sanchez.
Click for full team standings.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rochester Adams celebrates its repeat championship in Division 1 on Friday. (Middle) Grandville rose from sixth after Round 1 to finish runner-up. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Notre Dame Prep Accepts Challenge, Caps Undefeated Season Back on Top
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 1, 2025
MOUNT PLEASANT – Pontiac Notre Dame Prep has been so close, so many times over the past six years.
This year, second-year coach Jocelyn Welsh challenged her talented team to take it to the next level.
“I pushed them past their comfort zone every day in practice,” explained Welsh, who took over the Notre Dame program in 2023 after serving as an assistant at Division 1 powerhouse Rochester Adams. “Staying at your comfort zone is not going to get you any better. You have to do the things that are uncomfortable, and these girls were willing to do that.”
That chip on their shoulder proved to be the difference Saturday afternoon, as the Irish posted the best score in all three rounds to claim a decisive victory at the Division 3 Competitive Cheer Finals at Central Michigan University’s McGuirk Arena.
Notre Dame Prep won with a three-round total of 784.22, holding off a challenge from Grosse Ile (781.62). Perennial power Richmond (778.52) placed third, and Armada (768.96) was fourth.
The victory capped an unbeaten season for the Irish, who were the favorites coming in after winning District and Regional titles.
Notre Dame is certainly one of the state’s top programs, having won five consecutive Division 3 titles from 2014 to 2018. However, the Irish have not won since that streak was snapped – finishing second four of the past six years, including the past two behind Croswell-Lexington.
“We should have won it last year, but we didn’t get it done,” said Notre Dame senior Paige Marlinga, a returning second-team all-stater. “Not winning it last year really lit a fire under us.”
Senior Leila Mains, a returning honorable mention all-state choice, said that ever since this team’s first summer practice, breaking through and ending the six-year title drought was the team’s sole focus.
“Our expectation was to get here and to win,” said Mains, one of seven seniors on the 28-athlete roster. “We finished the job today, and it feels great.”
Notre Dame has battled Richmond for supremacy in Division 3 for years, and the Blue Devils were in the mix again Saturday. One team that was not there was two-time reigning Division 3 champion Croswell-Lexington, which placed fifth in the loaded Hartland Regional on Feb. 22.
Stepping up to challenge ND this year was Grosse Ile, a historically strong cheer program which has won two Finals titles but hasn’t finished in the top two since 2010.
“When I took over the program eight years ago, my goal was to re-establish that standard of getting here and competing for the title,” said Grosse Ile coach Angie Raithel.
The Red Devils have risen to the challenge, finishing third last season and second this time – going before Notre Dame in Round 3 and putting the pressure on the favorite with an inspired final-round routine.
“We had a lot of fun choreographing a difficult Round 3,” said Raithel, whose team was led by seniors Marissa Trombley, Virginnia West, Arianna Bianchi and Avelinn Flynn. “We are working toward that top spot, but second place is awesome and we are proud to carry this trophy back to the island.”
The title was Notre Dame’s sixth overall, along with five runner-up finishes. The previous five titles all came under longtime coach Beth Campbell.
Leading the Irish back to the top this winter was senior Grace Kinkade, a returning first-team all-stater, and second team choices Gabrielle Phillips, Jenna Robin and Marlinga. Sophomore Eva Thomas was a returning honorable mention choice.
The Irish led from wire-to-wire Saturday, taking control after Round 1 and then capping the day by executing a challenging Round 3 under extreme pressure.
“We decided at the beginning of this year that we were really going to push ourselves – to be more like a Division 1 team, to be honest,” said Welsh. “We won it with an incredible Round 3, which was very difficult.
“But that’s what these girls wanted.”
PHOTOS (Top) Eventual champion Pontiac Notre Dame Prep competes during Saturday's Division 3 Final. (Middle) Grosse Ile takes the mat during its run to a runner-up finish.