Hudson Caps Weekend of Repeats as D4 Best at Breslin
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 27, 2021
EAST LANSING – Hudson coach Kelly Bailey has been coaching competitive cheerleading for almost a quarter of a century, and she knows it takes special kids to win back-to-back MHSAA Finals championships.
“They are not normal teenagers,” Bailey said of her team after it pulled away from rival Pewamo-Westphalia in the final round at Saturday’s Division 4 Final at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
“They are all so respectful and they listen so well. Then they just go out there and do everything that we ask them to do.”
That formula certainly did the trick as Hudson used a powerhouse Round 3 to win with a 758.98 total, giving the Tigers their second-straight championship and third in the past four years. Hudson also has runner-up finishes in 2017 and 2019 as part of an amazing five-year stretch.
Pewamo-Westphalia, which led after the first round and trailed by just over one point after two rounds, took second at 751.12 – more than 21 points better than the rest of the field.
Hudson’s win continued the theme of repeat champions at the Cheer Finals.
Even though the venue changed from the DeltaPlex in Grand Rapids to the Breslin Center, and the competition was held three weeks later than normal, and the pandemic severely altered practice and competition schedules all season long, all four 2020 champions repeated this weekend – Richmond (Division 3) and Rochester Adams (Division 1) on Friday and Allen Park (Division 2) and Hudson (Division 4) on Saturday.
Hudson’s Kallahan Marry, a senior and returning first-team all-stater, said the win last year gave the team confidence heading into Saturday’s pivotal final round.
“We just said we’ve all done this routine a million times,” said Marry, one of six seniors for the Tigers. “So we knew we just had to go out there and do our job and kill it. Don’t regret anything.”
Other seniors for Hudson were Kaley Bloomer (returning all-state), Ahna Marry and Emma Shirey (both honorable mention all-state), and Kaite Grondin and Karlee Hinzman.
The Tigers also continued an amazing streak of 21 straight appearances at the Cheer Finals, highlighted by now three total championships and six runner-up finishes.
Bailey said Saturday’s was one of the most satisfying titles, because of the challenges with the pandemic and the fact that the team didn’t have its best stuff, but dug deep, stayed positive and got the job done.
“Everybody was real nervous all day today and a big reason is because it was a great performance by P-W,” said Bailey, who shared a long hug with veteran P-W coach Staci Myers after the awards ceremony. “We didn’t have our best score, but we did what we had to do. I’m just really proud of them.”
Pewamo-Westphalia continued another theme of the weekend – a second-place team more ecstatic about taking home the big runner-up trophy than sad about coming up just short.
On Friday, Paw Paw and Grandville both moved ahead of recent powers in their respective divisions to finish runners-up, while DeWitt used a stellar third round on Saturday morning to vault into second.
The Pirates, who have won nine cheer titles with the most recent in 2019, looked like they might notch No. 10, grabbing the lead after Round 1.
P-W performed well in the final two rounds, but Hudson just had too much in its arsenal. Hudson has 20 competitors on its roster, compared to 10 for the Pirates.
“(Hudson) crushed us by 34 points earlier this season, so I’m very proud of how we did today,” said P-W’s Ella Smith, who was joined by fellow seniors Ellie Pohl, Ella Simon, Miya Beech and Miranda Platte.
Pohl seemed to be speaking for many participants at the intense, stressful Cheer Finals, when asked how she would be celebrating her team’s big day.
“I am going to take an ice bath and then a big, long nap,” said Pohl.
Click for full team standings.
PHOTOS: (Top) Hudson competes during Saturday's Division 4 Final at Breslin Center. (Middle) Pewamo-Westphalia performs a routine on the way to a runner-up finish.
Allen Park Ends Carlson's Record Streak
March 4, 2017
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – The final round of a competitive cheer meet has the ability to sway emotions one way or another.
On Saturday, Round 3 proved to be the deciding factor in the end of an incredible MHSAA record-breaking run and the extreme jubilation of a team finally getting over the hump.
Allen Park delivered a stirring Round 3 performance and rallied past six-time reigning champion Gibraltar Carlson to win the Division 2 Final at the Grand Rapids DeltaPlex.
The Jaguars collected their first MHSAA Final since 2010 by the slimmest of margins. They posted a score of 787.96 and knocked off the top-ranked Marauders (787.90) by six hundredths of a point.
“Every little thing counts,” an elated Allen Park coach Julie Goodwin said. “I’ve never won a meet that was this close, but I’ll take this one. Round 3 has been a great round all year, and I knew if they came out fighting we would be able to take it. I knew it would be close, but I knew our Round 3 could do it for us.”
It appeared as if Gibraltar Carlson was headed toward a seventh straight Division 2 title after grabbing a three-point lead entering the final round.
However, the Jaguars were within striking distance of their Downriver League foe and needed a clutch effort.
“Our coach told us that if we wanted this right now then we had to go out there and do what you do best,” said Allen Park’s Delaney Millner, one of six seniors on the team.
“We went out there, and I think that’s exactly what we did. I could feel their energy on the mat, and ever since I was a little kid I wanted to be on this team and it’s the most humble feeling in the world knowing that my senior year I was able to go out with a bang.”
The Jaguars finished with a score of 321.4 in Round 3, while the Marauders had a 318.4.
“Round 3 is our favorite round and we have so many different things going on,” senior Olivia Grab said. “We knew going into Round 3 that if we put everything we could on the mat then we knew we could take it home.
“We worked so hard from the beginning of the season and so many girls returned from last year when we were runner-up. We knew how hard we had to work, and we broke the streak.”
Allen Park had been knocking on the door. It finished fourth in 2015 and runner-up to Gibraltar Carlson a year ago.
“I kept telling this team that, ‘you are close, you are almost there’, and this is the one that counts,” Goodwin said. “They battled and they wanted it. It’s the hardest-working team I’ve coached, and I couldn’t be more proud.
“After Round 1 we were down and that was a bummer, but it takes three rounds. I knew our Round 2 and Round 3 could pull us through if they did what they needed to do, and they did. They’re the six-time defending champions, and they’re very good.”
Added Millner: “I knew with this team that we had the ability, we had the talent and we had the work ethic. We just had to go out there and kill it.”
It was an emotional outcome for Gibraltar Carlson, which has been a perennial powerhouse in Division 2 for almost a decade.
The Marauders, who were young this season with only one senior, had won eight titles over the last nine years, including setting a new MHSAA record for consecutive titles in any division last season.
“I thought they did great, and I’m very proud of them,” Gibraltar Carlson coach Ayrn Ziesmer said. “Round 1 we came out with a very strong lead, and we could’ve done a little better in Round 2, but we still ended up winning the round. Round 3 was great, and I couldn’t have asked anything more from them.
“Allen Park did great today. I thought today was the best I’ve ever seen them, and I’m really excited for them. They’ve had to go through watching someone else win for six years, and I really hope they enjoy this time because it definitely goes by so fast before you start preparing for another.”
Muskegon Mona Shores (778.94) placed third for its highest finish in school history, while Dearborn Divine Child (775.76) was fourth.
PHOTOS: (Top) Allen Park performs a routine during Saturday’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) Gibraltar Carlson finished second at the Grand Rapids DeltaPlex.