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.
Falcons Giving Coach Champion Send-Off
February 21, 2018
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
KENTWOOD – As a freshman, Kylie Dunn remembers when she received the letter stating that she had made the East Kentwood competitive cheer team.
“When I got on the team I was super thankful to Coach, and I’ve been working my butt off just to prove to her how thankful I was for her to take me on the team,” Dunn said. “And I just think that since this is her last year, and this is my last year, it makes it even more special that we get to end it together.”
Dunn, one of nine seniors on this year’s roster, is currently helping make this season a memorable one for departing coach Stacy Geerts.
Geerts announced before the winter began that this would be her final one, ending a successful 25-year coaching career that has included the past 17 years at East Kentwood.
“I think it’s time,” Geerts said. “The last couple years I’ve been saying this might be my last year, but then there are those girls that I start coaching that I can’t see myself not being there for the four years.”
Geerts, who’s guided the Falcons to 14 MHSAA Finals appearances and a pair of runner-up finishes (2004 and 2010), will pass the reins of the program to former athlete Alona Blake.
Blake was on Geerts’ first competitive cheer team at East Kentwood.
“I went into it already knowing that I wanted it to be my last year and I wanted to make sure I was leaving it in good hands,” Geerts said. “I didn’t want to leave and have some random person take over my program. She has been with me for a while, and I know she will be awesome.”
The No. 4-ranked Falcons are in the midst of a banner run after enjoying regular-season success that has spilled over to the postseason.
East Kentwood has won nine meets, the most of any team in Geerts’ career, and recently claimed an Ottawa-Kent Conference Red and Division 1 District championships.
The Falcons’ success, however, wasn’t necessarily forecasted.
“Last year we lost a lot of seniors that were pretty crucial to this team, so I thought it was going to be a rebuilding year,” East Kentwood senior Sophie Bensyl said. “But on that first day of practice, I just knew there was something special. Once we got into it and started working, we knew we would go far.”
Even Geerts had early doubts about whether this team could reach greater heights.
“I did not know they were going to be as good as they have turned out to be,” Geerts said. “I knew they had the talent, and the leadership with the seniors would be good, but I did not know to the extent of how good this team would be.”
This year’s squad has combined humility, desire and work ethic to become one of the state’s best.
“The girls have been amazing,” Geerts said. “We win on a Saturday and they come back Monday and don’t act like they’ve ever won. They just come back and want to work that much harder, and this is the hardest working team I have ever coached.
“We don’t have a weak round this year, and they are humble and hungry all the time to win. It’s been a dream year, and I could not have written out a better year for my story to end this way.”
Dunn has been excited about the growth and commitment from the entire team.
“This is my 10th year of cheering and I’ve never been on a team full of so many dedicated and hard-working girls,” she said. “It’s like all the puzzle pieces are coming together for my last year, and I love this team.”
“It’s the most fun I’ve had in competitive cheer, and our team is something special,” Bensyl added. “We have a bond like no other, and it’s really cool to be able to be together every day at practice and at competitions.”
Other key standouts on the squad include seniors Ciara Green and Macy Brown, sophomores Trinity Nery, Ajla Zukic and Shelly Pham and junior Autumn Burns.
After a lengthy string of consecutive solid showings at the Finals, the Falcons failed to advance in 2015, and they missed out again last season.
The goal this year was to return to the Finals, and they will get the opportunity Saturday at the Regional at Brighton.
The top four teams advance to the Finals, March 2 at the Grand Rapids DeltaPlex.
“We have a tough region, but our District is as hard as our region and we compete in such a tough conference,” Geerts said. “The competition just makes us better every week, and we don’t compare ourselves to anybody. We are just out to do the best we can, and if they can do the best they can do without mistakes then we will win.
“That has been proven week after week, and I’m hoping that holds true for Regionals.”
And what would it mean if the Falcons can make a trip to the Finals?
“It gives me butterflies just thinking about it,” Dunn said. “It would show that all of our hard work is paying off and the hours of practice we do every day mean something. We are very privileged to be on a team where we have an amazing coach and amazing girls on the team. Not everyone gets to have that.”
Added Bensyl: “This is the last season for the seniors and for Coach, so we’re pretty motivated to do that for her. This is her year to go out big.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) East Kentwood competes on its home floor this season. (Middle) The Falcons celebrate one of their championships this winter. (Photos courtesy of the East Kentwood competitive cheer program.)