MHSA(Q&)A: Gibraltar Carlson cheer coach Christina Wilson
February 17, 2012
After cheering through middle and high school, Gibraltar Carlson competitive cheer coach Christina Wilson started coaching the Marauders’ middle school team the season after she graduated from Carlson High in 2001. She took over the varsity team in 2007 – and has accomplished in a short time what many coaches hope for over decades.
Carlson has won three of the last four MHSAA Division 2 championships – also finishing runner-up in 2010 – and is ranked No. 1 in its division heading into District competition this weekend. The Marauders have had a strong program throughout the history of competitive cheer as an MHSAA sport – they won the Class B championship in 1995 under Pat Christiansen and finished runners-up three straight seasons after that – but are on a run unequaled over the last five seasons.
Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan and Oakland’s cheer teams now boast former Carlson athletes, and all of this success could be just the start – Wilson may have accomplished a lot early in her career, but she said she hopes to keep the Marauders rolling for years to come.
What kind of things did you learn from your high school coach that you still teach today?
As soon as I started coaching middle school – we also got a new coach at the varsity level as well, so we had new coaching throughout the program at that time – I took and got the resources from our former coach in ’95 (Pat Christiansen) and started using all her resources. Everything she implemented and used for her teams, I took and continue to use today
Her daughter (Tami) coached with her in ’95 when we won the state championship, and she recently came back in 2010 as one of our assistants. She brought back that mentality of ’95 of working hard … the harder the practices the more successful you’ll be … make practices count enough so on Saturdays you can be as prepared as you can be … and the importance of making of making good decisions, in practice and outside sports as well.
Your program had success previously. But what happened to take Gibraltar Carlson to the next level?
I started coaching middle school, and by the time I moved up to varsity all (my) rules and procedures, the kids were used to it and it was (the same) throughout the program. It was becoming a program-wide thing to become excellent. It wasn’t just team by team, and I think that helped. We hold our kids to really high standards, and we’re expected to reach our goals and expectations.
What is the one big thing your athletes take away after four years of being part of your program?
We have the mementos and the championship rings and those things. But I think it’s a sense of pride. It gives them a sense of self. They know they can have goals, and if they work hard they can achieve those goals. If they put their minds to something, it’s something they can grasp if they work hard. I think that whole mentality of working hard, pursuing goals and teamwork is instilled right from the get-go, and something they take with them when they leave the program.
How do you stay ahead of the competition?
It’s not easy. We go to several camps; there’s a champion cheerleading camp we go to every summer. We work with college teams too; they come and show us things they do and teach us things. We take some kids every once in a while to out-of-state clinics (Kentucky, Bowling Green, etc.). We really try a diversity of things to get the girls out there and experiencing things. The techniques and ideas, it’s all about seeing something and then adding that to imagination to come up with whatever knows what.
Why are your teams so consistent?
We hold them to high expectations. We have gymnastics classes that they regularly attend, and on their own they go to the gymnastics facility once or twice a week extra on top of that to stay on top of their skills stay among the best athletes in state. One thing we do every year is we create a huge goal board. What we do after we start competing, is every Monday we check off what we’ve completed on the goal board. It’s not just a mental aspect, but it’s visual. Every week focus on something we try to achieve.
What do you enjoy most about coaching?
I love working with the kids. They’re funny. Practice is something new every day; you never know what you’re going to get. It’s so much fun. (And) competing is fun. I like the aspect of competition, the intensity of it. That’s lots of fun too. Winning is fun.
This is the sport Gibraltar Carlson has become known for, the one in which it’s had the most success lately.
It’s starting to grow. People look at cheerleading like, “Oh, it’s cheerleading.” We are definitely gaining the respect of other coaches and other programs, other sports and teachers and the student body. The really cool thing is when people start to look at the sport and realize how physically demanding it is. It makes us feel good to hear when other coaches say they think maybe the cheerleaders might be some of the best athletes in this school.
PHOTO from last season's MHSAA Division 2 Final at the Grand Rapids DeltaPlex.
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.)