Meeting of Rivals Goes Richmond's Way
March 2, 2019
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – For four straight years, Richmond came up just short.
For four straight years, Richmond had to watch arch rival Pontiac Notre Dame Prep hoist the championship trophy and swallow the bittersweet pill of finishing No. 2.
That background is essential to understand the utter euphoria the Blue Devils and their followers experienced Saturday evening when Richmond finally broke through again as Division 3 champion at the Delta Plex.
“We just went through the roof,” said Richmond senior Kendal Valentine, when asked about her emotions when Notre Dame was announced as the runner-up this year, leaving the Blue Devils as champs.
“My first three years we were second place every year, which starts to become repetitive. I’ll never forget that feeling sitting there knowing you fell just a little bit short of the ultimate goal. I’m so glad I don’t have to feel that again.”
Richmond, which has battled back-and-forth with Notre Dame all winter (Notre Dame won the District, Richmond took the Regional), grabbed control of the Final in Round 1 and never relinquished that lead.
The Blue Devils posted the highest score of the meet in each of the three rounds, winning convincingly with a three-round total of 787.42, with Notre Dame second at 777.72. Monroe Jefferson placed third and Charlotte took fourth.
The exclamation point came in Round 3 as the Blue Devils score of 319.50 was four points better than any other team.
“We have a very difficult third round, and our focus was right where it needed to be,” said 11th-year Richmond coach Kelli Matthes. “Our goal today was not to win. Our goal was to do our best in our last shot.”
The title was especially sweet for Richmond’s seven seniors – Jordan Anthony, Kylie Hinolosa, Hannah Lopiccolo, Megan McCallister, Olivia McCarroll, Jade Wolfe and Kendal Valentine.
While Saturday marked the end of Notre Dame’s five-year championship streak, it did extend a different run of success.
The Fighting Irish have now finished either first or second for seven straight years – the same number of years that Beth Campbell has been the head coach.
“I am very proud of this team, because it’s a lot of pressure at the top and a lot of people would like to see you lose,” said Campbell, whose first team as head coach was runner-up in 2013 and she has never had a team finish lower than second. “I think our girls handled all of that well. We will be back.”
Richmond, champion of the Blue Water Area Conference, has now finished either first or second in Division 3 eight of the last nine years. The Blue Devils previously won titles in 2012 and 2013 and took second in 2011 and 2015 through 2018.
Richmond showed remarkable consistency throughout this season, with a Division 3-best average of 779.8 per competition.
Matthes believes her team was able to take the final step this year because of preparation and practice changes her and assistant coaches Melana Fenwick and Lauren Riggs made going into this season.
“We changed how we did things around here,” said Matthes. “We did a lot more mental preparation, and I really think that paid off.
“Without change there is no change, or the old saying is that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I guess you could say we were just sick of finishing second.”
Paw Paw placed fifth, followed by Comstock Park, Howard City Tri-County and Alma.
PHOTOS: (Top) Richmond raises its championship trophy Saturday night at the Delta Plex. (Middle) A Richmond cheerleader is lifted by her teammates during a routine.
Falcons Prove 'Sharpest' of Rochester Powers in Taking Back D1 Title
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 2, 2023
MOUNT PLEASANT – The joyful outpouring and high-pitched shrieks that rocked McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant at 8:20 p.m. Thursday were six years in the making.
That was the exact moment when the final scores were read and Rochester realized it had edged its archrival from down the road, three-time reigning champion Rochester Adams, by less than a single point to win its first MHSAA Division 1 competitive cheer championship since 2017.
There were screams, leaps, smiles and hugs – the kind of pure emotion that is rare, but happens in high-level sporting competition.
“It doesn’t feel real,” Rochester senior Ava Grabke said amongst the chaos. “All the hard work we’ve put in this season, really all of these years, finally did pay off.”
Rochester won with a three-round total of 790.62, with Adams less than a point behind at 789.72.
The third high school in the Rochester Community Schools district, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek (787.56), placed third, followed by Brighton (317.10) and Grandville (316.80).
The back story is that Rochester has the most cheer titles in state history (now 15), but in recent years, rival Adams has had the upper hand – winning the past three Division 1 championships and edging the Falcons at this season’s District and Regional, making the Highlanders favorites to “four-peat” at the Final.
Instead, it was Rochester, under the direction of first-year coach Samantha Koehler, which got off to a great start in Round 1 and held off a fierce challenge from Adams.
“We had one of our best Round 1 performances of the season today and, obviously, there’s no better time for that than the state finals,” said Koehler, who was a highly-successful head coach at Plymouth before taking over the Rochester program last year from legendary coach Susan Wood.
“It just goes to show that every round matters – every point, every decimal.”
Rochester had a 1.4-point lead after the first round, but Adams trimmed that to 0.9 points by getting the best score in Round 2 – setting the stage for a pressure-packed Round 3.
Stoney Creek and Hartland were also within striking distance and went early in Round 3, but were unable to make a big move.
Rochester vs. Adams took place in the sixth and seventh spots, respectively, in the Round 3 rotation. Both teams were outstanding under pressure and, fittingly, ended up with identical scores of 321.10 in the final round – giving Rochester the overall win by that nine tenths of a point.
“I think going first in that opening round hurt us a little bit,” said ninth-year Adams coach Brooke Miller. “We started a little lower than we expected and even though we won Round 2 and tied them in Round 3, we couldn’t overcome it.”
It was the fourth Finals runner-up finish to go with the three championships for the Highlanders, who had 12 seniors out of 28 athletes on the roster.
Among those seniors, Katie Burgin, Alex Ris and Ashley Rosati were all returning all-state second-team selections, and Emma Maynard and Peyton Regalado were honorable mention choices in 2022.
“Knowing we lost by less than a point is hard to take,” said Adams senior Ava Bolin. “But at the same time, there’s no better feeling than knowing when you get off the mat for the last time that there’s nothing else you could have done. That’s how we felt today.”
Koehler said the rivalry between the three Rochester schools and Oakland Activities Association Red rivals is incredibly intense, but for the most part, very positive. She has an ongoing group chat with Miller and Stoney Creek coach Tricia Williams where they wish each other the best.
“I really don’t have an explanation about how our three Rochester schools are 1, 2, 3 in the state, other than iron sharpens iron,” said Koehler. “We see them pretty much every weekend during the season, and it’s always super close. We know we have to keep working and improving to keep up with them.”
The victory was particularly sweet for the Falcons’ nine seniors, especially after failing to qualify for the Finals in 2021 and then placing fifth last year.
Rochester’s nine seniors were Grabke, Amelia Craft, Emily Isabell, Juliet Jones, Elizabeth Dyki, Maeve Losh, Martina Dedvukaj, Shreya Pillai and Wanja Kamau – all of whom enjoyed one final group rendition of the Rochester program’s theme song, “You Gotta Be” by Des’ree, this time on the McGuirk championship mat.
“It felt great,” Dedvukaj said with a smile. “It was like all the hard work and everything that happened over the past four years led us to this moment.”
PHOTOS (Top) Rochester competes during Thursday’s Division 1 Final at McGuirk Arena. (Middle) Rochester Adams takes the mat on the way to a runner-up finish.