D1 Preview: Rochester Leads the Charge
March 3, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
There’s a clear wall to climb for teams hoping to break into contention at the MHSAA Division 1 Competitive Cheer Finals.
Reigning champion Rochester and 2016 runner-up Grandville have combined to win six titles and finish second six times over the last decade – including the last two seasons when they alternated in the top spots.
Five teams enter tonight’s championship meet at the Grand Rapids DeltaPlex looking to join those powers with a first title. A sixth, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, won in 2010 and entered the postseason ranked No. 2 and poised to compete as well for the top spot. Following are glances at all eight Division 1 teams competing beginning at 6 p.m. All four Finals will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv and viewable on a subscription basis.
BRIGHTON
Rank: No. 8.
League finish: First in Kensington Lakes Activities Association Lakes and overall.
Co-coaches: Christina Wilson, fifth season.
Championship history: Class A runner-up 1999.
Top score: 784.50 at the District.
Team composition: 23 total (eight seniors, seven juniors, eight sophomores).
Outlook: Wilson formerly coached her alma mater Gibraltar Carlson to four Division 2 championships, and this season has Brighton back at the Finals for the first time since 2008. The Bulldogs have scored at least 780 points their last three competitions and four of their last six. Senior Maria Gawronski was second-team all-region last season, and junior Megan Nuffer earned an honorable mention.
GRANDVILLE
Rank: No. 3.
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Red.
Coach: Julie Smith-Boyd, 36th season.
Championship history: Six MHSAA titles (most recent 2015), nine runner-up finishes.
Top score: 790.38 at the District.
Team composition: 33 total (14 seniors, six juniors, nine sophomores, four freshmen).
Outlook: Grandville has placed first or second to cap the last three seasons and finished 1.74 points behind Rochester at last season’s Final. The Bulldogs’ average score of 776.2 trails only Sterling Heights Stevenson’s this season, and they’ve put up the top scores in Division 1 in Rounds 1 (239.1, tied) and 2 (232.8). Seniors Daelyn Weir and Kayley Schuitema made the all-state first second last season, while seniors Claire Baker and Olivia Calvin earned honorable mentions.
HUDSONVILLE
Rank: No. 9.
League finish: Second in O-K Red.
Coach: Ashley Huyser, first season.
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up 2012.
Top score: 788.32.
Team composition: 27 total (11 seniors, six juniors, three sophomores, seven freshmen).
Outlook: Former Hudsonville standout Huyser, a 2012 grad, took over the program this fall and inherited a team that also made the Finals a year ago. The Eagles enter this weekend with a top score 11 points higher than at this point last season, when they went on to finish seventh. That top score ranks fourth in Division 1 this winter, and Hudsonville has broken 780 four times total and in three of its last four events. Senior Amanda Adams made the all-state first team in 2016.
LAKE ORION
Rank: Honorable mention.
League finish: Fourth in Oakland Activities Association Red.
Coach: Nicole Hills, fourth season.
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 780.98 in the Regional.
Team composition: 26 total (nine seniors, seven juniors, six sophomores, four freshmen).
Outlook: Lake Orion went from fifth in its league to sixth in all of Division 1 last season, and is hoping to take a similar step after improving to fourth in the OAA Red, winning its District and finishing fourth at its Regional. The Dragons have upped their overall score the last three meets and enter with a top score two points higher than at this point last season. Senior Sydney Johnson made the all-state second team in 2016, and senior Olivia Duffy earned honorable mention.
ROCHESTER
Rank: No. 1.
League finish: First in Oakland Activities Association Red.
Coach: Susan Wood, 36th season.
Championship history: Thirteen MHSAA titles (most recent 2016), four runner-up finishes.
Top score: 789.26 in the District.
Team composition: 23 total (eight seniors, 10 juniors, five sophomores).
Outlook: Annually a team others have to chase, Rochester earned its first Division 1 title last season since 2009 and have kept right on rolling this winter with league, District and Regional titles. The Falcons’ top scores for each round this season all rank among the top four in Division 1, with their best Round 3 (320.7) the highest. Seniors Sydney Asuncion and Hope Fryer are returning all-state first teamers, while seniors Megan McMurray and Zy Turner made the second team last season and senior Sam Ellison earned an honorable mention.
ROCHESTER ADAMS
Rank: No. 5.
League finish: Second in OAA Red.
Coach: Brooke Miller, third season.
Championship history: Class A runner-up 1996.
Top score: 788.80.
Team composition: 27 total (nine seniors, 10 juniors, five sophomores, three freshmen).
Outlook: Adams is back at the MHSAA Finals for the first time since 1997 after finishing second only to reigning Division 1 champion Rochester in the league, District and Regional this winter. The Highlanders’ average overall score of 771.1 ranks fifth in Division 1, and its top Round 2 and 3 scores both rank among the top four. Junior Allison Mars earned all-region honorable mention last season.
ROCHESTER HILLS STONEY CREEK
Rank: No. 2.
League finish: Third in OAA Red.
Coach: Tricia Williams, 14th season.
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2010.
Top score: 786.68.
Team composition: 23 total (nine seniors, three juniors, nine sophomores, two freshmen).
Outlook: Stoney Creek missed the Finals last season but finished third as recently as 2015 and earned the same place in 2013 and 2012. The Cougars finished third in their league and at their District and fourth at their Regional this winter competing against the other two Rochester schools, and have topped 783 points three of their last five competitions. Their average overall score of 773.1 ranks fourth in Division 1. Senior Jacqueline McCarthy made the all-District first team in 2016.
STERLING HEIGHTS STEVENSON
Rank: No. 4.
League finish: Second in Macomb Area Conference Red.
Coach: Brianna Verdoodt, 12th season.
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up in 2011.
Top score: 785.08 at the Regional.
Team composition: 35 total (one senior, 10 juniors, 24 freshmen)
Outlook: Stevenson has finished seventh and then third the last two seasons, respectively, and enters this weekend with the highest average score in Division 1 at 777 points. The Titans have scored 780 or higher six times including five of their last six events and especially excel at Round 1, where they tie Grandville for highest top score of 239.1. Junior Anna Long made the all-state first team last season, while junior Carolina Poliss made the second team and juniors Lily Juncaj and Izzie Nitecki earned honorable mentions.
PHOTO: Rochester competes in Round 2 during last season's Division 1 Final.
Meridian Grows with Seniors Into Contender
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 12, 2019
Katie Blanchard knew she and her Sanford Meridian competitive cheer teammates had something special even before they placed fourth at the 2016 MHSAA Division 4 Final.
Now that the six freshmen who made up the bulk of that team are seniors, everyone else knows it, too.
“We’ve been in it since we were really, really young – as early as you could do cheer,” said Blanchard, who is one of those seniors. “We’ve all been, all the seniors anyway, we’ve all been together that long, and we knew we had something special. Because we’re all friends, too, we knew we would all stay in it.”
Blanchard and her classmates McKenna Burns, Aubrey Erskine, Tana Spangler, Becky O’Dell and Elizabeth Melchi have all stayed in it, and after leading Meridian to a program-best finish a year ago (second), they have the Mustangs among the highest-scoring teams in Division 4 as the postseason approaches.
Meridian put up a total score of 774.02 this past Saturday at the Cheer on the Lake competition in Houghton Lake. It’s the highest score for any Division 4 team this season by nearly 10 points, and Meridian’s highest by nearly 15. With the District competition scheduled for Saturday in Vassar, the Mustangs believe they’re peaking at the right time.
“We’re still getting better throughout the season, and I don’t think we’ve peaked yet,” Burns said. “Our team and our coaches know that, too. We still have goals that we set every week, every practice. We’re still working hard on perfecting our skills.”
Meridian has been improving its scores throughout the season, as – outside of a slight blip at Alma College Spiritfest – they have been trending upward. And even when it looked like scores had plateaued a bit, with 759.98, 724.82, 759.44 and 757.06 coming in consecutive meets from Jan. 19 through Feb. 5, the Mustangs took things to a new level at Houghton Lake.
“We’ve just been practicing for the last week like it’s our District tournament,” Meridian coach Val MacKenzie said. “They went out with a bunch of dedication and fire in their blood that they wanted to win. Our Round 3, everything was just rock solid. They came together and performed well, and that was the highest score we’ve had in Round 3, which is 317.5.”
MacKenzie said that one of the team’s slogans, and one that the Mustangs used between rounds even as they were rolling toward a state-best score, is “You’re better than that.” That theme of constantly improving was on display at the team’s next practice, as MacKenzie invited a cheer official this past Monday to critique the team as it went through its routine.
“It’s good having somebody come in and look at us and say, ‘You guys are there, there’s just some little tiny things you can do to make yourselves better,’” MacKenzie said. “After a while with the girls you’re coaching, sometimes you say things and it goes in one ear and out their other. But when somebody else says it, then it sinks in like, ‘Oh yeah, Coach did say that.’”
This group of 16 athletes – 14 who are back from last year’s Finals runner-up – doesn’t need much outside motivation, however, and hasn’t since March of 2018.
“Last year, after we won Districts and Regionals, it really hit us that we really had a chance,” Burns said. “We worked so hard, and to get so close – we were excited to get second, and we still got a trophy and were recognized. Second place is pretty good for our little school in the middle of nowhere, especially since we didn’t have any seniors. Now, we’ve worked this hard, we’re not going to let it fall off.”
Part of the motivation is knowing how close the competition is, and Meridian is very aware of that. While Saturday’s score is nearly 10 points clear of the division’s second-best, Pewamo-Westphalia owns the best season average in the division at 741.3, while Meridian is second at 739.5.
While they’re paying attention, the Mustangs know they can only control their own routine, which is why Burns said the team is working on even the smallest things.
“That’s the hardest part, you can’t expect them to fall or can’t expect them to mess up,” she said. “You have to depend on yourselves and your own teammates. You’re not going to be able to control anything over the other team; you’re just able to control what you do.”
MacKenzie can count on her seniors to make sure the entire team gets that message, as they have a lot of experience in that leadership role. Since they were sophomores, those six have been the oldest competitors on the team.
“It was a lot of pressure, and our sophomore year we didn’t really do that well, in my opinion,” Blanchard said. “It was difficult, but we had enough prior experience to be good. The seniors that were on the team when we were freshmen, they really whipped us into shape. There were only three seniors when we were all freshmen, so we grew up fast.
“Throughout the years, you learn so many lessons. Sophomore year was a really tough year. Last year, we took second, and that was such a huge change. Each year, going to state, we’ve learned how to deal with the pressure and just really how to perform.”
Everything seems to be coming together at the right time for the Mustangs, and their coach is confident they’ll perform when needed.
“They’re just a phenomenally talented team,” MacKenzie said. “I don’t think I have to worry about them losing their momentum. They can almost reach out and touch it; it’s right there. But you have to keep your act together. You can’t think that you’ve won.”
The Mustangs have taken that to heart and are focused on finishing what they started years ago.
“That would just be absolutely amazing,” Burns said. “Especially for us seniors, we’ve been working so hard, and we just want to go out with a bang.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Sanford Meridian’s competitive cheer team takes to the mat during a meet this season. (Middle) The Mustangs have posted the highest overall score of this winter in Division 4. (Photos courtesy of the Sanford Meridian competitive cheer program.)