D4 Preview: New Contenders in Mix as Hudson Seeks to Reign Again
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 3, 2022
For five straight seasons, Hudson has finished first or second at the MHSAA Division 4 Competitive Cheer Finals – with the Tigers winning back-to-back championships the last two seasons.
They’re likely the team to chase again Friday at Grand Rapids’ Delta Plex. And an intriguing mix of contenders will attempt to do so.
Pewamo-Westphalia is the only other past champion among the eight finalists, and Montrose and Mason County Central are making the trip for the first time. Beal City is back for the first time in a long time and has posted the highest score not by Hudson in the division, while Addison, Adrian Madison and Lawton are returning finalists aspiring to continue to climb.
Division 4 competition begins at 2 p.m. Friday. Tickets cost $10 and may be bought at the Delta Plex, and all four Finals will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv and viewable with a subscription. More information, including the spectator seating chart, is posted at MHSAA.com.
Below is a look at all eight finalists:
ADDISON
League finish: Second in Cascades Conference.
Coach: Haley Miller, second season
Championship history: Seeking first top-two Finals finish.
Top score: 714.54 at Regional.
Team composition: Five total (four seniors, one sophomore).
Outlook: The Panthers finished fifth last season and third in 2020, and have built toward this weekend with three of their top four scores this season coming over their last four competitions. Senior Jenah Hamlin earned a Division 1 all-state honorable mention last season.
ADRIAN MADISON
League finish: Does not compete in a league.
Coach: Sarah Kope, third season
Championship history: Seeking first top-two Finals finish.
Top score: 721.26 at Regional
Team composition: 14 total (five seniors, three juniors, three sophomores, three freshmen).
Outlook: Madison is coming off its second-straight fourth-place Finals finish, and two of the team’s top three scores have come during the postseason. The Trojans have finished first or second in all of their competitions this winter. Junior Kaylee Paulette made the all-region first team last season and seniors Lillian Wager, Julia Mohr and Inessa Aranda are past all-state honorees.
BEAL CITY
League finish: First in Highland Conference
Coach: Bailie Erway, fourth season
Championship history: Seeking first top-two Finals finish.
Top score: 756.59
Team composition: Nine total (four seniors, one sophomore, for freshmen).
Outlook: The Aggies won their District and finished runner-up at their Regional to reach the Finals for the first time since 2001. They’ve broken 700 points four times this winter. Seniors Kyleigh Konwinski and Zeta Zeneberg earned all-District recognition last season.
HUDSON
League finish: First in Lenawee County Athletic Association.
Coach: Kelly Bailey, 25th season
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2021), six runner-up finishes.
Top score: 760.14.
Team composition: 21 total (two seniors, 10 juniors, six sophomores, three freshmen).
Outlook: Hudson won its second straight and third championship in four seasons a year ago, finishing seven points ahead of the field. The Tigers have scored 750 or more points in seven competitions including the District and Regional as they’ve won all of their events this winter. Senior Maize Sholl and juniors Logan Parks and Cheyenne Eichler made the all-state first team last season, while juniors Annalyse Ames, Isabella Moreno and Ellevera Bean made the second team and sophomore Rylie Bloomer earned an honorable mention.
LAWTON
League finish: First in Southwestern Athletic Conference
Coach: Holly James, ninth season
Championship history: Seeking first top-two Finals finish.
Top score: 708.62 at District.
Team composition: Nine total (four juniors, four sophomores, one freshmen).
Outlook: A Lawton team that also was young a year ago has continued to build, earning this second-straight trip to the Finals after finishing seventh in 2021. The team’s top score coming into the Finals is six points higher than a year ago, and Lawton has won all of its competitions while going over 700 points in four of its last six meets. Junior Mikayla Reynolds made the all-state second team last season, and junior Rylee Oxley earned an honorable mention.
MASON COUNTY CENTRAL
League finish: Second in West Michigan Conference
Coach: Cheri Stibitz, 15th season
Championship history: Seeking first top-two Finals finish.
Top score: 720.6
Team composition: Nine total (one senior, six juniors, two sophomores).
Outlook: Stibitz started the Spartans’ program in 2009, and this will be their first trip to the Finals – after also making their first to Regionals. Mason County Central won five invitationals during the regular season and never placed lower than third until coming in fourth (but advancing) last weekend. Juniors Brooke Wood, Geralyn Soberalski and Sarah Houghton and sophomore Emily Adams earned all-Regional recognition in 2021.
MONTROSE
League finish: Does not compete in a league.
Coach: Sabrina Urmetz, eighth season
Championship history: Seeking first top-two Finals finish.
Top score: N/A, but scored 724.26 at District.
Team composition: 13 total (six seniors, two juniors, three sophomores, two freshmen).
Outlook: Montrose has advanced to the Finals for the first time, after finishing third at a Regional that had the top four scores in the division last weekend. The Rams had just missed the Finals with a fifth-place Regional finish a year ago. Senior Bree Owens and junior Felicity LaVigne earned all-Regional honorable mention in 2021.
PEWAMO-WESTPHALIA
League finish: Does not compete in a league.
Coach: Staci Myers, 15th season
Championship history: Nine MHSAA titles (most recent 2019), 12 runner-up finishes.
Top score: 680.76.
Team composition: 14 total (two seniors, two juniors, three sophomores, seven freshmen).
Outlook: The Pirates are coming off their second-straight Finals runner-up finish after winning Division 4 in 2019. Half of this team is freshmen, but P-W is anchored by athletes who have made one or more runs at the championship. Senior Halie Myers and junior Emma Flanigan made the all-state second team last season – both also received all-state recognition in 2020 – and sophomore Marissa Harp earned an honorable mention.
PHOTO Hudson competes during Round 3 of last season's Division 4 Finals at Breslin Center. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
With Focus on Returning to MHSAA Finals, T-K Soars to Impressive Start
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
January 20, 2022
MIDDLEVILLE – Thornapple-Kellogg senior Anna Benedict remembers competing in Rocket Cheer when she was in elementary school and looking up to the varsity cheerleaders who were there helping her.
Those same girls made it to the MHSAA Finals in competitive cheer, and Benedict aspired one day to reach the same level as her role models.
“I was coached by those girls, and as a little girl that was my dream,” Benedict said. “I wanted to go to the state finals when I was in the cheer program, and it would be so awesome to be back there.”
The Trojans haven’t appeared in the Finals since 2015, when they placed fifth in Division 2, but they are currently in the process of changing that.
A successful start to this season has created a belief that a return to the Finals is within reach.
“There is so much motivation,” T-K senior Zoey Thomas said. “We practice in the big gym and we have all our banners with the different sports, and that is one of our biggest motivations.
“Our coach will point up at the banners and will talk about adding years to conference, Districts, Regionals and state.”
Thomas, a three-sport athlete like many on the team, wants to end her time at the school competing with the best in the state.
“We haven’t been there since 2015, and personally, one of my goals is to end my high school career by going to state in one of my three sports,” Thomas said. “It would be so cool to go for competitive cheer my senior year.”
While the Finals are still more than six weeks away, the Trojans are on an upward trajectory.
T-K is perfect so far this season, the latest win coming in Wednesday’s first Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold jamboree.
The Trojans also won their own invitational last weekend by producing season-high scores in every round.
Prior to that, they captured victories at the West Catholic Invitational and Blue Devil Invitational.
“We’ve had a strong start for sure, and we are just trying to keep the momentum moving throughout the season and into Districts, hopefully Regionals and even going for the state finals,” T-K coach Adrian Sinkler said. “The biggest thing I keep telling them is to be consistent and just go out and have fun. We have to have stronger performances every time, and so far they’ve definitely done that.”
Fourteen athletes make up this year’s team, led by six experienced seniors.
Other key standouts include seniors Ruby Frei and Aundria Robbe, junior Presley Hall and sophomores Mali Holland, Kenady Smith and Ava Jahnke.
“We are not a school that goes to the state finals every year,” Benedict said. “So it would be cool to show that we can do it. Our season has played out well so far, and we all want it so bad. This team is willing to try anything to try and do it.”
The Trojans currently have the fourth-highest score (719.9) in Division 2, but they are not settling.
“We’ve had good success so far, but we have to continue to put in the work and not get comfortable,” Benedict said. “We have to understand that nothing will be given. Every competition is different, and you can’t predict anything. We can’t stop working hard and we just have to better ourselves.”
Added Thomas: “It took a lot of work to get to this point, and it’s not something that has come easy. It’s been hours upon hours of just cleaning, fixing and changing things. It’s been grueling work, but absolutely worth it, and it’s paid off so far. We're not done yet.”
Sinkler has an invested interest in the program as an alumnus.
She was a member of the first Trojans team to qualify for the Finals in 2012.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been there, and we’re trying to get them to go back,” Sinkler said. “They mesh really well and get along while also keeping each other in check, respectfully.
“They are different kids, and they are very calm, collected and very coachable. That keeps them pushing for something bigger. We have a big senior class and this is their last shot, so they want to leave a legacy and leave their seeds of knowledge back to the underclassmen.”
T-K has been solid in all three rounds, but especially its third.
A few tweaks have been made to improve the complexity and energy in that round, and it’s led to an enhanced confidence level.
“We made some changes a few weeks ago because we just weren’t loving the ending of it,” Sinkler said. “As a coach, it just didn’t do it for me and it didn’t give me that ‘wow,’ so we changed it. It’s definitely worked in our favor.”
Benedict said the third round has become the Trojans’ favorite.
“We’ve gotten better since the changes, and we’ve added a lot of difficulty,” she said. “As the round goes on, the stunts get more difficult, and that’s what makes it so good and so fun to watch.”
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for four years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg celebrates its championship at its invitational Saturday. (Middle) The Trojans are seeking to reach their first MHSAA Finals in competitive cheer since 2015. (Photos courtesy of the T-K competitive cheer program.)