D3 Preview: New Contenders Rising
March 6, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half
Richmond and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep have dominated Division 3 competitive cheer for most of the last decade, combining to win the last eight championships and finish runner-up seven times over the last nine seasons.
That may or may not come to an end this weekend at Grand Rapids’ Delta Plex – but there are some strong candidates making it look possible.
Below are glances at all eight teams competing for this year’s title. Round 1 begins at 6 p.m. Saturday, and the event in its entirety will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv and viewable on a subscription basis. Click here for the Finals rotation schedule and other important information.
BERRIEN SPRINGS
League finish: First in Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference
Coach: Laurie White, 11th season
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 754.06.
Team composition: 17 total (five seniors, four juniors, four sophomores, four freshmen)
Outlook: White has built a second Finals-qualifying cheer program, with Berrien Springs on the way to its first appearance after she also started Manistique’s program and led it to multiple MHSAA championship meets. The Shamrocks qualified for the Regionals for the first time just four years ago, but finished third last weekend to book its first trip to the Delta Plex. Berrien Springs also won all eight of its regular-season competitions this winter. Senior Elizabeth Haygood earned all-Regional honorable mention last season.
COMSTOCK PARK
League finish: First in O-K Blue
Coach: Hayley Strickland, second season
Championship history: Division 3 champions 2011 and 2009, three runner-up finishes.
Top score: 759.65 at the District.
Team composition: 20 total (three seniors, six juniors, five sophomores, six freshmen)
Outlook: Comstock Park improved from eighth in 2018 to sixth last season, and its highest total score this winter is 20 points higher than its best from a season ago. The Panthers have won eight competitions and finished second at their Regional. Junior Niyah Gill made the all-state second team last season, and senior Elizabeth Howard earned an honorable mention.
CROSWELL-LEXINGTON
League finish: Second in Blue Water Area Conference
Co-coaches: Katie Tomlinson, fifth season
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 779.32.
Team composition: 22 total (eight seniors, three juniors, four sophomores, seven freshmen)
Outlook: Croswell-Lexington also will be making its first trip to the Finals, having finished third at its Regional after missing the cut by two spots last year. The Pioneers placed at least third at all of their competitions this winter and second or first at 10 of 12 – especially impressive with reigning Division 3 champion Richmond topping the BWAC, District and Regional, and Croswell-Lexington also finishing ahead of Notre Dame Prep at the District. Seniors Avery Falter and Ashley Robertson both earned all-Regional recognition last season.
ESCANABA
League finish: Does not compete in a league
Coach: Samantha Griebel, first season
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 742.10.
Team composition: 22 total (three seniors, nine juniors, five sophomores, five freshmen)
Outlook: Escanaba is back at the Finals after finishing a Regional place short of qualifying a year ago, this time led by first-year head coach Griebel after she formerly led the middle school program. The Eskymos may be strongest in Round 3, where their top score this season (315.6) ranks seventh in Division 3. Sophomore Alivia Royer earned all-Regional recognition in 2019.
ONSTED
League finish: Second in Lenawee County Athletic Association
Coach: Michelle Goetz, fourth season
Championship history: Class C runner-up 1994.
Top score: 769.70.
Team composition: 26 total (five seniors, six juniors, 10 sophomores, five freshmen)
Outlook: Goetz, who helped Onsted to a Regional title as an athlete in 2006, has the team back at the Finals for the first time since 2015. The Wildcats placed first or second at their first nine competitions and second in the league only to Division 4 powerhouse Hudson. Saturday could see a big finish, as Onsted’s best scores in Round 1 (233.0), Round 2 (226.9) and total all rank fifth in Division 3. Senior Claire Williams earned all-Regional recognition last season.
PAW PAW
League finish: First in Wolverine Conference
Coach: Stefanie Miller, 11th season
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 787.48 at the District.
Team composition: 23 total (six seniors, three juniors, nine sophomores, five freshmen)
Outlook: Paw Paw returned to the Finals last season with a fifth-place finish and will be pushing for more Saturday with the top Round 3 (321.3), second-highest Round 1 (235.8) and third-highest Round 2 (230.4) scores in Division 3 this season. Paw Paw also has won 12 of its 13 competitions, including the District and Regional, led by an experienced group. Junior Mackenzie Miller made the all-state first team last season, while senior Joscelin Stewart and sophomore Paige Miller made the second and sophomores Rylee Goldberg and Alexis Sunlin earned honorable mentions.
PONTIAC NOTRE DAME PREP
League finish: Does not participate in a league.
Coach: Beth Campbell, eighth season
Championship history: Division 3 champions 2014-18, runner-up 2013 and 2019.
Top score: 776.80 at the Regional.
Team composition: 21 total (four seniors, four juniors, six sophomores, seven freshmen)
Outlook: The Fighting Irish saw their championship streak end at five last season, as they finished second. But they’ll no doubt be in the mix again Saturday, as once again their best scores rank with the best in Division 3 this winter. Their best scores in every round and overall rank among the top four, with their top Round 1 (234.4) ranking third in the division. Notre Dame Prep came back to finish second only to Richmond at their Regional after coming in third at the District. Senior Megan Sollmer made the all-state first team last season, while seniors Ava Simony and Katherine Topoleski and sophomore Grace Byrne made the second and sophomore Riley Lumm earned honorable mention.
RICHMOND
League finish: First in Blue Water Area Conference
Coach: Kelli Matthes, 12th season
Championship history: Division 3 champion 2019, 2013 and 2012, runner-up five times.
Top score: 787.82 at the Regional.
Team composition: 28 total (10 seniors, two juniors, eight sophomores, eight freshmen)
Outlook: After taking back the championship last season, its first since winning back-to-back in 2012 and 2013, Richmond has been nearly unstoppable winning 10 of its 11 competitions including District and Regional meets ahead of Notre Dame Prep. Richmond’s average total score this season of 769.8 is nine points better than the rest of Division 3, and its top Round 1 (238.2) and Round 2 (231.1) both set the pace as well. Seniors Madison Daniel, Jordan Valentine and Emily Mikolasik and sophomore Makenna Parker all made the all-state first team last season, while senior Nicole Logghe made the second and seniors Olivia Poelker and Julia Akerley earned honorable mention.
PHOTO: Paw Paw competes two weekends ago on the way to claiming a District championship. (Photo by 1001 Words Photography.)
Stevenson Returns, Leaves as D1 Champion
March 2, 2018
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS -- Sterling Heights Stevenson competitive cheer coach Brianna Verdoodt clutched the hardware in her hands as tightly as she could.
“I’m sleeping with this tonight,” Verdoodt declared after her team made school history Friday at the MHSAA Division 1 Final at the DeltaPlex.
The top-ranked Titans concluded a dominating season by winning the program’s first state championship.
Stevenson tallied a three-round total of 793.22 and outlasted runner-up Rochester Adams, which finished at 790.82.
“I could not have written a better story of how this season has gone for us,” Verdoodt said. “We lost only one senior last year, so it was first time we had literally every single girl coming back. So the year started out totally different.
“We could be tough, but still love on them, and we kept pushing just as hard because we knew that we wanted this.”
The Titans placed second to Rochester a year ago and third in 2016. Last season’s was their first runner-up finish at the Finals since 2011.
“We knew we wanted a little bit more this year,” Verdoodt said. “Last year was unexpected with nine freshmen, and making it to the state finals was huge – and runner-up was just like icing on the cake.”
Stevenson capped off an incredible season that included a Macomb Area Conference Red championship and winning all but one competition.
“This is probably the best feeling of my life,” Stevenson senior Anna Long said. “I’ve been working four years to win a state championship, and this is just the best day of my life. We were all confident that we had a shot because this is the best this team has ever been, so we knew it could be done.”
The Titans drew motivation from last year’s finish, and that experience paid off for the veteran group.
“We were so close with a young team and now we’re here, state champs,” Titans senior Carolina Poliss said. “It’s crazy to be the first because we’ve been striving for years for this, and we’re doing something Stevenson has never done before.”
Stevenson trailed Adams by two tenths of a point after Round 1, but jumped into the lead with a solid Round 2 that delivered a high score of 232.72.
All that was left was Round 3, and the Titans punctuated the win with a stirring effort that combined flexibility, strength and agility.
It resulted in another high score, 322.20.
“I was a flyer in high school and I’m crazy about flexibility and things that set us apart from other people,” Verdoodt said. “We have a couple different things in our Round 3 that look odd to a normal cheer person.
“Round 3 is just a fun one, and we hold them to really high standards for all positions so they can go out and do a performance like that under pressure.”
Long said there was a sense of calm that overtook the team before its final round.
“We’re usually nervous, but we were all really confident this time and it was a different confidence than normal,” she said. “We were all really focused, and I feel like we all knew that all we had to do was hit Round 3 and show we wanted it with heart. Then we knew we could win, because our other rounds were so strong.”
Adams’ runner-up finish was its first in more than two decades. The Highlanders placed second to Rochester in Class A in 1996.
“It feels like first; it really does,” Adams coach Brooke Miller said. “They’ve worked so hard for this, and they’ve definitely fought for everything they’ve done today.”
The Highlanders, who finished fifth last season in their first trip to the Finals in 20 years, had 10 seniors leading the way.
“They really wanted it, and they did everything they could possibly do to get it,” Miller said. “We had nothing to lose tonight, and we wanted to go out there and have fun and let these 10 seniors have the best day yet.”
Two-time reigning champion Rochester took third (789.70), while Grand Blanc and Rochester Hills Stoney Creek rounded out the top five.
PHOTOS: (Top) Sterling Heights Stevenson hoists its first Finals championship trophy in competitive cheer. (Middle) Rochester Adams celebrates its runner-up finish.