Rochester Returns to Top Spot in Division 1
March 4, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
GRAND RAPIDS – Susan Wood has had more elite teams than most during 35 seasons as Rochester’s cheer coach, including 13 MHSAA champions and five more that won state championships from the coaches association before competitive cheer became an MHSAA-sponsored sport in 1994.
Admittedly, this season’s team wasn’t her most talented. But few if any performed as well under pressure as these Falcons – and that became crucial Friday as Rochester pursued its first Division 1 title since 2009, but found itself locked in the cheer version of sudden death overtime.
The Falcons led reigning champion Grandville by 24 hundredths of a point heading into Round 3. Neither team could afford the slightest error during their final routine. And, as if the scenario needed additional buildup, the two top contenders were scheduled to perform at the end of the rotation – Grandville seventh of eight teams and Rochester to finish the night.
Grandville had scored the top Round 3 in Michigan this season. But Rochester equaled that score at the DeltaPlex, posting a 322 to edge the Bulldogs by a point and a half in the round and finish with an overall 792.40-790.66 advantage to earn not only that first title in seven seasons, but also finish a run that saw the Falcons win all of their events in 2015-16.
“I don’t like to know the scores going into Round 3. I just know that my team has to do what we’ve done in the past and what we do in practice, and just put it on the mat,” Rochester senior Breonna Weaver said. “I knew we were ahead. I didn’t know how much. But I don’t like to know because I want to do what I can do regardless of where we stand.”
“When we get to a competition, we just focus on ourselves. We don’t care about any other team. We’re just so driven on doing exactly what we do at practice and living in the moment … and I just love this team for it.”
Rochester has five more MHSAA championships than any other team, although Breckenridge and Gibraltar Carlson are favored to make that margin four again during Saturday’s remaining competitions.
The Grandville/Rochester matchup was a throwback to last year – when the Bulldogs led by 26 hundredths of a point heading into Round 3 and won the title by a margin of 1.46 points. Combined, the last two seasons also have been a throwback to the beginnings of competitive cheer as an MHSAA sport – every Class A and then Division 1 championship from 1994-2009 was won by either Rochester or Grandville.
Only four schools total have won a championship in the largest-school division during the 23 seasons of the tournament. But those other three all had won at least once since Rochester’s most recent title.
“We’ve had some talented kids, but everyone’s getting more talented. And any little flaw and your hopes are washed away,” Wood said. “I never wanted to be a has been. I didn’t want anyone to think that because we weren’t winning, we were all done winning.
“This team was really unique. We lost 15 seniors last year, so this summer, wow, our skills were really rough. ... (But) we kept winning. Usually you have some bad days. But they worked really hard to improve their skills."
Wood went on to explain that her athletes have a “performance edge” that allows them to transfer what they practice to competition even under the most stressful situations – like Friday’s, in front of a crowd so loud her cheerleaders couldn’t hear each other on the mat, and with Grandville and eventual third-place Sterling Heights Stevenson sure to deliver strong Round 3 routines as well.
All three hit, but Rochester with just enough extra to finish the run.
“We just talked about going out there and having fun, and giving it all we’ve got,” said Grandville coach Julie Smith-Boyd, who also finished her 35th season. “We number our teams, so this is number 35. Next year it’s different. Different girls, a whole different scenario.
“They’re just so … gritty, clutch. I think the Round 2 was probably the best Round 2 we’ve ever done, I mean, in many, many years.”
Rochester posted a 237.90 in Round 1 to lead Grandville by two tenths of a point and East Kentwood by fourth tenths. Rochester also had the high score in Round 2 of 232.50 – a mere four hundredths of a point higher than Grandville’s.
The Falcons’ final score of 792.40 was the highest posted in any division this season. Sterling Heights Stevenson, which posted the second-highest Round 3 on Friday of 321.20, rode that score from fifth into third place and to a season-best overall score of 788.10.
As Grandville has its tradition of numbering teams, Rochester has a tradition of welcoming visitors to practice with a special salute. After improving from not even making the MHSAA Finals two seasons ago, this group certainly earned their future welcome and place in Falcons history.
“After seven years, we finally brought it home,” Rochester senior Gabby Leo said. “It’s an amazing feeling, because whenever I go back to visit our team, they’ll yell, “State champs in the house.” It’s just … chills.
“We remember those (past) girls. They’re like our idols.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Rochester competes during Friday’s Division 1 Final at the Grand Rapids DeltaPlex. (Middle) Grandville finishes a routine on the way to placing as runner-up.
Richmond Reigns Again as Paw Paw Offers Another Titanic Challenge
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 5, 2022
GRAND RAPIDS – Richmond was backed into a corner Saturday afternoon – but like a true champion, dug deep and fought its way out to continue its reign.
The Blue Devils needed a near-perfect final round to barely hold off a gutsy and impressive performance by Paw Paw at the Division 3 Final at the Delta Plex.
“We left our hearts out there on the mat in that final round,” said Richmond senior Sarah Mikolasik. “It’s bittersweet because it’s over, but it’s unreal what we did.”
Unreal is the perfect term to describe the high school cheer career for Mikolasik and the other seven seniors, who were a perfect 4-for-4 with Division 3 championships all four years.
However, for a period of time Saturday, it looked like the fourth title might slip away.
Richmond and Paw Paw entered the third and final round in a virtual tie, with the Blue Devils holding less than a 1-point lead (463.60 to 462.80).
Paw Paw was first to go out of the eight-school field in the final round, and to say the Red Wolves delivered would be the understatement of the day.
The Red Wolves, led by the senior duo of Paige Miller and Lexi Sunlin, absolutely nailed their final routine – much to the delight of the spectators who made the trip up from Southwest Michigan – putting them in position to win their first-ever cheer Finals title and bringing tears to the eyes of their veteran coach.
“I have never cried when one of my teams came off the mat – until today,” said 13th-year Paw Paw coach Stefanie Miller, who is also Paige’s mother. “Throughout that Round 3, the tears just welled up in my eyes. They went for it. I knew they won it.”
But Richmond had its chance.
At that point, all of the pressure in the world was on the three-time reigning champion to perform a very difficult routine, all while knowing that the slightest bobble or lean on a stunt would likely mean the end of that streak.
It was against that backdrop that Richmond, representing a small town just north of Detroit, showed why it has emerged as one of the best competitive cheer programs in the state.
Even though they weren’t on the mat at the same time, the Blue Devils matched every skill and stunt of the Red Wolves, finishing with a third-round score of 317.40, slightly better than Paw Paw’s final round of 317.20.
Richmond ended up winning with a total of 781, while Paw Paw was second at 780 – nearly the same margin of victory as one year ago.
While the margin was the same, both teams improved their total score by almost 10 points, with Richmond winning 771.62-770.72 in 2021.
“I was speechless when they came off that mat for the last time, because I knew they had done everything that they possibly could,” said Richmond coach Kelli Matthes, who has won six titles to go with five runner-up finishes during her 14 years as the team’s coach.
“They are not supposed to be perfect; they are human. But they fight tooth-and-nail every day to get there.”
Matthes is assisted by Melana Szczesniak, Lauren Riggs and Jessica Hatcher.
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep placed third at 776.62, followed by Croswell-Lexington and Monroe Jefferson.
The title for Richmond means that all four team champions from 2021 repeated this year – Rochester Adams in D1, Allen Park in D2, Richmond in D3 and Hudson in D4.
Gracie Ellis, one of five returning senior all-staters for Richmond, said the abilities to be coachable and always striving to get better is the reason her school has won four championships in a row.
“Never when we correct people does anybody complain,” said Ellis, who was joined as a senior returning first-team all-stater by Makenna Parker, Hannah Jeroue, Savanna Krywy and Ava Moskwa. “They take it, and they work harder. That’s how you keep getting better.”
Other seniors for Richmond were Eryn Hart, Jenna Alexander and Mikolasik.
PHOTOS (Top) Richmond competes during Saturday’s Division 3 Finals at Grand Rapids’ Delta Plex. (Middle) Paw Paw celebrates its second-straight runner-up finish. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)