D2 Preview: Downriver Powers Set Tone
March 1, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Gibraltar Carlson and Allen Park have combined to win the last 11 Division 2 competitive cheer championships and also earn five of the runner-up places during that time.
The Downriver League rivals will be favorites again at Saturday’s Division 2 Finals at the Grand Rapids Delta Plex. But a number of competitors have been pushing to break into the top spots – and another will compete at this level for the first time this weekend.
Below are glances at all eight teams competing Saturday. Division 2 begins at 10 a.m. and will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv and viewable on a subscription basis. Click here for the Finals draws and other important information.
ALLEN PARK
League finish: First in Downriver League
Coach: Julie Goodwin, 14th season
Championship history: Division 2 champion 2017 and 2010, three runner-up finishes.
Top score: 794.46 at the Regional.
Team composition: 26 total (seven seniors, three juniors, 11 sophomores, five freshmen)
Outlook: Allen Park has finished first or second the last three seasons, coming in runner-up a year ago. The Jaguars finished ahead of rival Gibraltar Carlson in the league and at Regional, by nine tenths of a point at the latter, and they’ve posted the top scores in Division 2 in Round 2 (233.1), Round 3 (322.7) and total. In fact, the top total score above and Allen Park’s average of 784.4 are the highest in the state, regardless of division. Seniors Lyric Spears and Rylie Davis made the all-state first team last season, while senior Angela Sammut made the second and senior Sydney Bain and junior Jessika Palmarchuk earned honorable mentions.
CEDAR SPRINGS
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference White
Coach: Anne Olszewski, fifth season
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 778.5 at the District.
Team composition: 19 total (four seniors, eight juniors, three sophomores, four freshmen)
Outlook: Cedar Springs is returning to the Finals for the first time since 2011 after posting two of its top three total scores during the postseason. The Red Hawks’ average total score of 748.8 ranks sixth in Division 2. Seniors Gabby Endres, Elayna Male and Emily Pierson all earned all-Regional honors last season.
DEARBORN DIVINE CHILD
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic League
Coach: Shelley Popiel, second season
Championship history: Four runner-up finishes (most recent 2014).
Top score: 781.36 at the Regional.
Team composition: 25 total (six seniors, 10 juniors, five sophomores, four freshmen)
Outlook: Divine Child finished seventh last season and looks like a strong possibility to take a few steps up with the third-highest average total score in Division 2 at 766.8. The Round 1 (236.3) and Round 3 (319.2) top scores also rank among the top four in the division. Senior Lauren Elliott and juniors Emily LaFeve and Natalie Santostasi all earned all-Regional honors last season.
DEWITT
League finish: Tied for first in Capital Area Activities Conference Red
Coach: Candace Heskitt, 11th season
Championship history: Division 2 runner-up 2015 and 2007.
Top score: 778.64 at the District.
Team composition: 25 total (three seniors, seven juniors, eight sophomores, five freshmen)
Outlook: The Panthers returned to the Finals last season and finished sixth, and enter this weekend coming off an eighth straight league championship and first District and Regional titles since finishing Finals runner-up in 2015. DeWitt surges in Round 3, with its top score of 319.6 ranking third in Division 2. Sophomores Aubrey McKinley and Gabby Cooney both earned all-Regional recognition in 2018.
GIBRALTAR CARLSON
League finish: Second in Downriver League
Coach: Ann Hajec, first season
Championship history: 10 MHSAA titles (most recent 2018), five runner-up finishes.
Top score: 793.56
Team composition: 25 total (three seniors, eight juniors, seven sophomores, seven freshmen)
Outlook: Carlson has won a combined seven Division 2 titles under a combined three coaches this decade, and will attempt to make it eight with four leaders as 2011-13 all-stater Hajec brings her first team to the Delta Plex. The Marauders have continued to thrive with the top Round 1 (239.2) score in the division and second-highest in Round 2 (233), Round 3 (321.4) and total. Senior Summer Bojarski and sophomore Maguire Lindisch made the all-state first team last season, while senior Kennedy Stewart, junior Sarah Klim and sophomore Alex Stewart made the second team and juniors Rylee Demers and Elliah Shank earned honorable mentions.
GRAND RAPIDS KENOWA HILLS
League finish: Second in O-K Black
Coach: Bethany Schutter, first season
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 770.54 at the District.
Team composition: 24 total (seven seniors, six juniors, seven sophomores, four freshmen)
Outlook: Kenowa Hills moved up from fifth in 2017 to third last season, its second third place in three years. It’s riding some momentum into this weekend with two wins and its top two scores over the last four events. Seniors Taylor Buskard and Braeanna Mull made the all-state second team last season, and junior Kaylee Lenartz earned honorable mention.
MUSKEGON MONA SHORES
League finish: First in O-K Black
Coach: Amanda Heethuis, 12th season
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 781.32
Team composition: 28 total (six seniors, five juniors, eight sophomores, nine freshmen)
Outlook: Mona Shores has finished third and fourth, respectively, at the last two Finals, and should be the mix again with its average score of 765.4 ranking fourth in Division 2 along with its top scores in Round 1 (tied – 235.4) and Round 2 (230.2). Junior Logan Potts earned all-state honorable mention last season.
WALLED LAKE WESTERN
League finish: First in Lakes Valley Conference
Co-coaches: Amber Stocks and Michelle Frey, ninth seasons
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 784.72 at the Regional.
Team composition: 24 total (five seniors, seven juniors, eight sophomores, four freshmen)
Outlook: Western will be competing at the MHSAA Finals for the first time after posting its top two total scores of the season at the District and Regional. The Warriors could make a splash – their average total score this season (757.5) ranks fifth in Division 2, while the Regional score was the third-highest this winter and their top scores for all three rounds also rank among the top five. Senior Madison Homer and junior Makayla Sheppy earned all-District second-team honors last season in Division 1.
PHOTO: Allen Park competes during the regular season; the Jaguars are among favorites again in Division 2. (Photo courtesy of the Allen Park competitive cheer program.)
Revived Breckenridge Returns to Elite
March 7, 2015
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – The rebuilding process has been completed for the Breckenridge competitive cheer team.
After six years without a program due to low numbers, the Huskies returned to the top after dominating Saturday’s Division 4 Competitive Cheer Final at The DeltaPlex.
The Huskies finished with a three-round score of 754.1 and collected their eighth MHSAA title in school history.
Pewamo-Westphalia placed runner-up at 730.40, while Michigan Center’s streak of four Finals titles in a row ended with its third-place finish (726.02).
“We all knew that our goal was to win another state championship and we completely exceeded our expectations of this year,” all-state sophomore Alexandria Gillis said. “And we’re all really proud of each other.”
Breckenridge was able to compete with a full varsity squad last season for the first time in seven years and advanced to the Finals, where they placed fifth.
Deb Gaines, who co-coached with Jenna Graham, guided the team to its last Finals title in 2007 before the hiatus.
“I retired and went back to recruiting at the lower levels to start it back up,” Gaines said. “We kind of ran out of girls, the middle school program kind of fizzled and we just didn’t have enough high school kids at that point.
“We started rebuilding all those years ago, and now they’ve grown up and here we are. It’s a great feeling, and they did great. We still have a pretty young team.”
Breckenridge set the tone early and posted the Final’s high scores in every round en route to a comfortable advantage.
It scored 229.10 in Round 1 and 216.46 in Round 2. The Pirates capped off the day with a 308.70 in Round 3.
“We knew it was going to be our last performance, so we wanted to go out there and give it our all and leave it all on the mat,” Gillis said. “Leave no doubts that we didn’t do everything we could do. We went out there and fought for it.”
The Huskies led P-W by almost 15 points entering the final round, a sizable margin built by a pair of nearly flawless routines.
“When we make up our cheers, it’s all about the meaning of the cheer and what they’re saying,” Gaines said. “You mean what you say and say what you mean, and vocally they really pushed that out and everything else followed. They gained a lot of confidence the last three weeks starting at Districts and into Regionals. We saw it coming and coming.”
Graham said the final round proved to be the icing on the cake.
“We’ve had a strong Round 3 all season so they knew when the time came, if we hit it, we were going to get there,” Graham said. “They did awesome.”
It was the 10th Finals runner-up finish in school history for P-W, but it was a satisfying accomplishment after narrowly missing the Finals last season by one spot at Regionals.
The Pirates placed runner-up three straight years (2011-13) after winning the Division 4 Final in 2010.
“They were super excited, determined and worked very hard all year to get here again,” P-W coach Staci Myers said. “It was a goal just to make it and let the chips fall where they may. They just wanted to come today and perform to the best of their ability, and they were going to let where we fell where we fell.”
Myers said this year’s group, led by six seniors, improved as the season progressed.
“We did the best we could in every round (today) and they’ve improved every week,” she said. “This is the best they’ve done all year long, and they definitely peaked at the right time. We’re really proud of them for working so hard these last two weeks and just to get here has been amazing.”
Breckenridge will have the luxury of returning everyone next season in its bid to repeat. There were no seniors on this year’s team.
Instead, seven juniors, five sophomores and four freshmen paved the way.
“It’s an amazing feeling to know that everybody’s going to be back because we can get stronger with the same people we’ve had,” Gillis said.
Click for full results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Breckenridge cheerleaders hoist their championship trophy Saturday. (Middle) Pewamo-Westphalia added another top Finals finish at this season’s Division 4 meet.