Hudson Completes Championship Climb
March 3, 2018
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – The Hudson competitive cheer team has been a staple at the MHSAA Finals for nearly two decades with 19 appearances, including 18 straight.
But the Tigers had been unable to reach the pinnacle of the sport.
A long time in the making, Hudson’s perseverance finally paid off when it captured that seemingly elusive Division 4 title Saturday at the DeltaPlex.
The Tigers delivered three solid rounds en route to a season-high 769.26 total and the program’s first Finals victory.
Sanford Meridian (756.86) edged Adrian Madison (756.56) for runner-up honors by three tenths of a point.
“I knew it was going to be when the opportunity came,” Hudson coach Kelly Bailey said. “We’ve had great teams in the past, and I knew one time luck would meet with our opportunity, and we would do it. This was the year, and we had a great group of girls.”
The Tigers placed runner-up at the Finals five times, including three straight years from 2008-2010.
They finished a close second again last season to Breckenridge, which didn’t field a team this year after winning three consecutive Finals.
“I’m on cloud nine right now,” Hudson senior Payge Leathers said. “The feeling is unexplainable. This is my fourth year at the state finals, but finally breaking through and winning a state title has been the most overwhelming and exciting experience of my life.”
The Tigers, who won the Lenawee County Athletic Association crown, were ranked No. 5 entering the postseason.
“I knew it from the beginning this year,” Hudson senior Shiann Martinus said. “We clicked so well all year, and I’ve never had a team so bonded. We all wanted the same goal and we did anything to get it, and we got it.
“We were three points away last year so we definitely didn’t want to cut it close this year, and we practiced like crazy.”
Hudson held a slim two-point lead entering the final round, but pulled away from the field with an impressive Round 3.
It capped the meet with a high score of 316.60, eight points better than the next closest team.
“They did a fabulous job in Round 3, and you can’t ask for anything more,” Bailey said. “They were under the most pressure they could be going last and everybody had stuck their cheers. There was two points separating us, and they nailed it.”
Bailey took a different approach to this year’s Finals and didn’t put extra pressure on the team with high expectations.
“We tried to really focus on celebrating our year today, that it wasn’t a competition,” she said. “It was a celebration of our year from the start, and we really focused on having fun. All the work was over, and this is what the hard work was for. They just needed to have a blast today.”
The squad, which featured five seniors, didn’t concentrate on anything but its own effort.
“The whole time nobody focused on a state title,” Martinus said. “We focused on going out to do our best. This (title) comes with it when you do your best.”
Sanford Meridian also had a breakthrough performance in earning its first top-two finish at the Finals.
This was the Mustangs’ third appearance, and they didn’t qualify last year after placing sixth at Regionals.
“We knew we could either take it or be within the top three,” longtime Sanford Meridian coach Val MacKenzie said. “I think our goal was met, and it was a goal we constantly worked toward.”
The Mustangs, who had no seniors on the roster, jumped into contention with a stellar Round 2 that accumulated the highest score of the day, 224.16.
“The girls have worked really hard this year and we’ve really concentrated on our Round 2 with our tumbling and getting back tucks, because we knew that’s what it was going to take to get us where we needed to be,” MacKenzie said. “I’m very proud of how they bought into the program, and they are so dedicated. They are just a good bunch of girls.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Hudson performs a routine on the way to winning the Division 4 title Saturday. (Middle) Sanford Meridian raises its runner-up trophy after its first top-two finish.
Why Not Cedar Springs? Red Hawks Excited to Chase Finals Championship
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
January 18, 2024
CEDAR SPRINGS – It’s been more than 15 years since a competitive cheer team from the west side of the state has won a Division 2 Finals championship.
Cedar Springs is attempting to change that.
The Red Hawks entered the week ranked No. 3 in Division 2 behind perennial powerhouses Allen Park and Gibraltar Carlson.
“Our end goal with the program is not to just make it a goal to be at the state meet, it’s to win it.” Cedar Springs coach Katy Hradsky said. “No one else from around the area has won in Division 2 since 2007, and I know it's a hefty goal, and a lot to say out loud, but at the same time who else is going to do it? Why not us?”
Holland Christian claimed the last Division 2 title before Allen Park and Gibraltar began dominating. The two schools have combined to win the last 16 Division 2 Finals.
“At this point, we know how high we can score and we know what our potential is,” senior Taylor Shadley said. “We are done playing small, and we feel like we should go hard every competition in order to achieve those goals – because why not us?
The Red Hawks’ best Finals finish recently was fifth in 2019. The program made four consecutive trips (2019-2022) before failing to reach championship weekend a year ago.
That disappointment still runs deep for the returning athletes.
“It was really heartbreaking because we went through a lot of adversity throughout our season,” Shadley said. “It was disappointing for us, but it gave us more motivation going into this year.”
Said senior Hannah Wright: “We have a lot of motivation this year. We struggled to do it last year and some obstacles got in our way from getting there, but I think this year we’ve really buckled down and gotten stronger as a team. We’re even more motivated.”
The Red Hawks weathered a tough start this season due to illness and injury and placed third in their first two competitions. They got back on track earlier this month and won their own invitational.
“It was a very rough start to the season, but it's getting there,” said Hradsky, who’s in her third year at the helm but has been a part of the program for the past decade.
“We were really young last year, and we’re still young. Our freshman and sophomore classes outweigh our junior and senior classes by about five, but it doesn't mean they are any less talented or skilled than any other team that I’ve had here. They are just as motivated as last year, if not more.”
In addition to Shadley and Wright, the following also compete in all three rounds: senior Kennedy Klocko, juniors Kadee Rypma, Ashley Buckley and Sarah Buckley; sophomores Taylor Verduin, Marley Salisbury and Brynn Nesbitt; and freshmen Lily Maddox and Ella Roth.
“Our biggest strengths are rounds 1 and 2, and we have worked really hard to get some of those skills back that we didn’t have last year in round 2,” Hradsky said. “We made it our goal all sideline season and at the start of the competitive season to make sure those skills are as perfect as they can be.”
Round 3 is still a work in progress, according to Shadley.
“We are seeing what works for everybody, and we have a lot of girls who are able to be moved around,” she said. “It’s just getting things to click.”
“The bond we have helps, and our coaching is structured,” Wright added. “The coaches know what they are doing, and they know what to give us to motivate us. It’s a very welcoming place to learn, grow and make mistakes.”
The recent winter weather has wreaked havoc on Cedar Springs’ schedule.
A trip to Rochester Hills Stoney Creek was canceled, as well as Wednesday’s first Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold meet. The Red Hawks will be one of the favorites to win their conference and were looking forward to showcase their skills.
“It was disappointing because we felt prepared going in, but with more preparation we will be just fine,” Shadley said.
Added Wright: “We were really excited for Stoney Creek because it’s one that we look forward to and we were really hyped for our first conference meet. We will take that time to practice and perfect everything we need to do to come back stronger for the next competition.”
The aspirations are clear, and the initiative plentiful.
“The goal every year is to get better and better for the state meet, and then to do what we can to be at the state meet,” Hradsky said.
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five 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) Cedar Springs competes during a meet on its home mat. (Middle) This season’s Red Hawks competitive cheer team. (Photos courtesy of the Cedar Springs competitive cheer program.)