D3 Preview: Powers Converge Again
March 6, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Three teams that have combined to win the last four Division 3 competitive cheer championships again will contend at Saturday’s MHSAA Final.
Pontiac Notre Dame, Richmond and Comstock Park annually help finish the weekend’s final session, starting at 6 p.m. But five others are seeking their first MHSAA cheer titles – including two that have posted scores among the top four in the division this winter.
Following are glances at all eight Division 3 teams competing at the Grand Rapids DeltaPlex. All four Finals will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv and viewable on a subscription basis.
ARMADA
Rank: No. 5
League finish: Second in Blue Water Area Conference.
Coach: Tammi St. Onge, fourth season.
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 771.12 at the Regional.
Team composition: 26 total (two seniors, nine juniors, three sophomores, 12 freshmen).
Outlook: Armada will return to the Finals for the second straight season after finishing fifth in 2014 and emerging from a District and Regional over the last two weeks that both featured the top two-ranked teams in the division. The Tigers have posted their top two scores of the season the last two weeks and own the top Round 3 score (320.8) in Division 3 this winter – that score also ranks third for all divisions combined. Junior Natalie Groen and sophomore Aja Bagley made the all-region second team last season.
COMSTOCK PARK
Rank: No. 3.
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue.
Coach: Kathy Felty, 25th season.
Championship history: Division 3 champions 2011 and 2009, three runner-up finishes.
Top score: 769.48 at the Regional.
Team composition: 21 overall (11 seniors, three juniors, five sophomores, two freshmen).
Outlook: After a fourth place in 2013, Comstock Park moved back up to second at last season’s Final for its sixth top-two finish in seven seasons. The Panthers won all but four of their competitions this season, finishing second the other times, and have scored 763 points three of their last four events including wins at the District and Regional. A number of veterans will lead the title surge this weekend; seniors Sabrina Arnone and Brianna Pincombe made the all-state first team last season, while senior Hayley Robinson and sophomore Alyssa Geraghty made the second and senior Alexis Donley earned an honorable mention.
HOWARD CITY TRI-COUNTY
Rank: Unranked.
League finish: Second in Lakes 8 Conference.
Coach: Jennifer Laskey, ninth season.
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 732.72 at the Regional.
Team composition: 19 total (four seniors, seven juniors, four sophomores, four freshmen).
Outlook: Tri-County will make a second straight trip to the Finals after placing eighth last season. The Vikings also made their fifth straight Regional this winter and posted their top two scores the last two weekends. Senior Emily Rienks and junior Taylor Stressman earned all-region honorable mentions last season.
LAKE ODESSA LAKEWOOD
Rank: No. 4.
League finish: First in Greater Lansing Activities Conference.
Coach: Kim Martin, 21st season.
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 767.46.
Team composition: 21 total (10 seniors, six juniors, five sophomores).
Outlook: The Vikings are back in the Finals after missing last season and finishing eighth in 2013, and they’ve taken first or second in all of their events this season. Lakewood especially shines in Round 1, where its best score of 235.7 is the best in Division 3. The Vikings finished second in the Regional and earned a District title. Junior Samantha Morrison made the all-region second team in 2014.
ONSTED
Rank: No. 9.
League finish: First in Lenawee County Athletic Association.
Coach: Sarah Spears, second season.
Championship history: Class C runner-up 1994.
Top score: 770.66 at the Regional.
Team composition: 22 total (seven seniors, two juniors, six sophomores, seven freshmen).
Outlook: Onsted opened this season with nine first places in its first 10 events and have returned to the MHSAA Finals for the first time since 2007, when Spears was a junior. She’s also led the Wildcats to league titles in both of her seasons and some impressive scores this winter – the top overall score is fourth-highest in Division 3, and their best Round 3 of 317.1 ranks second. Senior Lauren Richardson made the all-region second team last season.
PAW PAW
Rank: No. 10.
League finish: First in Wolverine Conference.
Coach: Stefanie Miller, sixth season.
Championship history: Seeking first MHSAA Finals top-two finish.
Top score: 746.68 at the District.
Team composition: 16 total (six seniors, seven juniors, three sophomores).
Outlook: Paw Paw has posted top-seven Finals finishes each of the last three seasons and will enter Saturday having posted two of its top three scores over the last two weekends. The Redskins opened this season by winning eight straight events and have broken 735 points three of the last four. Senior Chloe Bogema made the all-state first team last season, while senior Rylee Cunningham made the second and senior Maya Bishop earned an honorable mention.
PONTIAC NOTRE DAME PREP
Rank: No. 1.
League finish: Second in the Detroit Catholic League.
Coach: Beth Campbell, third season.
Championship history: Division 3 champion 2014, runner-up 2013.
Top score: 781.08 at the Regional.
Team composition: 29 total (seven seniors, six juniors, seven sophomores, nine freshmen).
Outlook: The reigning Division 3 champion has arguably been even better in 2014-15 with a top score entering the weekend 17 points higher than a year ago. Notre Dame Prep has the top Round 2 (231.18) and overall scores in Division 3 this winter and its average score (763.524) is nearly 12 points higher than the field. The Fighting Irish have broken 760 points in nine of 11 events. Seniors Alysa Gonzalez and Emily Schiavi made the all-state first team last season, while seniors Olivia Riley and Morgan Gales made the second team and juniors Paige Lombardo and Hannah Brzustewicz earned honorable mentions.
RICHMOND
Rank: No. 2.
League finish: First in Blue Water Area Conference.
Coach: Kelli Matthes, seventh season.
Championship history: Division 3 champion 2013 and 2012, runner-up 2011.
Top score: 772.4 at the Regional.
Team composition: 24 total (three seniors, two juniors, 12 sophomores, seven freshmen).
Outlook: The Blue Devils finished fourth last season but have posted the second-highest overall score in Division 3 and have the second-highest average score (751.875) despite a team mostly made up of underclassmen. Seniors Sarahanne Marshall and Angel Deal made the all-state second team last season, and junior Emily Fitzsimons and sophomore Kaleigh Taylor earned honorable mentions.
PHOTO: Pontiac Notre Dame Prep claimed its first MHSAA title last season after finishing Division 3 runner-up in 2012-13.
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.