D2 Preview: Carlson Chases History Again
March 4, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Gibraltar Carlson can add an MHSAA record Saturday to its already-incredible competitive cheer history.
With a sixth straight Division 2 championship, the Marauders would stand alone with the most consecutive MHSAA titles, regardless of class or division. They currently are tied for the longest streak with the Rochester teams from 1999-2003.
Following are glances at all eight Division 2 teams competing at the Grand Rapids DeltaPlex beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday. All four Cheer Finals will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv and viewable on a subscription basis.
ALLEN PARK
Rank: No. 2.
League finish: Third in Downriver League.
Coach: Julie Goodwin, 11th season.
Championship history: Division 2 champion 2010, runner-up 2008.
Top score: 782.98 at the Regional.
Team composition: 24 total (four seniors, four juniors, 10 sophomores, six freshmen).
Outlook: This team has a much different look than the one that finished fourth last season; the Jaguars had 11 seniors on that squad, but have four now but a large sophomore class. The new group has kept the same level of success, finishing no lower than third in an event this winter and second at last week’s Regional. Allen Park’s top Round 1 score of 237.1 is tops in Division 2, and its average overall score of 761.4 ranks second in the division – and the Jaguars came less than a point from beating Carlson at the Regional.
DEARBORN DIVINE CHILD
Rank: No. 6.
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic League.
Coach: Amber Genevich, 11th season.
Championship history: Four runner-up finishes (most recent 2014).
Top score: 780.36 at the District.
Team composition: 28 total (two seniors, 13 juniors, six sophomores, seven freshmen).
Outlook: After four straight runner-up finishes in Division 2, Divine Child came in third last season but only 12 hundredths of a point from finishing second again. The Falcons have taken a jump over the last two postseason meets, with the overall scores at those events their best this winter. Divine Child’s top Round 2 score of 229.1 ranks second in Division 2, and its average overall score of 748.7 is a solid fourth. Junior Victoria Greco earned an all-state honorable mention last season.
DEWITT
Rank: No. 4.
League finish: First in Capital Area Activities Conference Red.
Coach: Candace Heskitt, eighth season.
Championship history: Division 2 runner-up 2015 and 2007.
Top score: 775.80 at the District.
Team composition: 25 total (six seniors, two juniors, six sophomores, 11 freshmen).
Outlook: This is another team that has a younger make-up for this trip to the DeltaPlex, but arrives after winning its District and coming in second at the Regional – and placing lower than second at events only twice this season. And there’s plenty of experience, with senior Elizabeth Zunker an all-state first-teamer last season, senior Grace Colarossi making the second team and senior Payton Daggy earning honorable mention. The Panthers are especially strong in Round 1, with a top score of 235.1 ranking third in Division 2 this season.
GIBRALTAR CARLSON
Rank: No. 1.
League finish: First in Downriver League.
Coach: Ayrn Ziesmer, second season.
Championship history: Eight MHSAA titles (most recent 2015), four runner-up finishes.
Top score: 786.40 at the District.
Team composition: 20 total (one senior, one junior, 11 sophomores, seven freshmen).
Outlook: The dynasty continued last season under a new coach as Carlson won its sixth championship in seven seasons and fifth straight. And the surge shows no signs of slowing as the Marauders bring one of the youngest teams to the DeltaPlex this weekend – but one that has an average overall score of 774.1 that tops Division 2 and ranks fourth regardless of division. Carlson’s top Round 2 score of 230.9 this season also ranks first in Division 2. Lone senior Mary Miller made the all-state first team last season, as did sophomore Hannah Pryba, while sophomores Samantha Zdankiewicz, Madison Holbrook and Derrian Forynski made the second team and sophomores Julia Nemeth, Gabby Genaw and Morgan Thomas earned honorable mentions.
GRAND RAPIDS KENOWA HILLS
Rank: No. 3.
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Black.
Coach: Chris Hudson, sixth season.
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 772.78.
Team composition: 23 total (seven seniors, three juniors, seven sophomores, six freshmen).
Outlook: After finishing second at its league and District in 2015, Kenowa Hills won both again this winter; in fact, the Knights won all but one of their events and have finished first at eight straight. Kenowa Hills finished sixth at last season’s Final, but enters this weekend with the top Round 3 score in Division 2, 320.0, and third-highest average overall score in the division of 756.0. Senior Jordan Stellini made the all-state first team last season, while senior Kayla Impellizzeri made the second team and senior Skyler Dochod earned an honorable mention.
MUSKEGON MONA SHORES
Rank: No. 5.
League finish: Second in O-K Black.
Coach: Amanda Heethuis, ninth season.
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 769.48.
Team composition: 23 total (five seniors, seven juniors, seven sophomores, four freshmen).
Outlook: After a season away, Mona Shores is back at the Finals coming off a second-place finish at its District and third at its Regional. The Sailors have finished first or second nine times this season and lower than third only once. Mona Shores surges in Round 2 – its top score of 227.5 ranks seventh in Division 2 – and its average overall score of 740.3 ranks sixth in the division. Senior Kennedy Ryan earned an all-region honorable mention in 2015.
RICHLAND GULL LAKE
Rank: Unranked.
League finish: First Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference.
Coach: Julie Jones, 19th season.
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 747.86.
Team composition: 18 total (11 seniors, four juniors, one sophomore, two freshmen).
Outlook: The senior-laden Blue Devils have surged in their first MHSAA Final since 2006 after a second straight league title and fourth straight Regional berth. Gull Lake won eight of its first 10 events this season and has posted four of its five top scores over the last five meets. Its top Round 2 and average overall scores both rank among the top 10 in Division 2 this season. Senior Montana Rehm earned an all-region honorable mention in 2015.
TRENTON
Rank: No. 10.
League finish: Fourth in Downriver League.
Co-coaches: Michelle Maci and Kelly Leone, first seasons.
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 774.68 at the Regional.
Team composition: 18 total (six seniors, five juniors, five sophomores, two freshmen).
Outlook: Trenton gives the strong Downriver League its fourth MHSAA finalist and third in this division. The Trojans advanced from a Regional that included two teams from its league but would’ve won the other Regional in Division 2 with their overall score. Trenton’s top scores in all three rounds rank among the top 10 in the division this season. Maci and Leone combine to bring coaching experience from multiple schools, including Divine Child. Seniors Erika Brower and Kelsi Hackney made the all-district second team last season.
PHOTO: Gibraltar Carlson competes during Round 3 of last season’s MHSAA Division 2 championship meet.
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.)