Soaring Stevenson Building On Big Finish
February 13, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The best parts of last season never really ended for the Sterling Heights Stevenson competitive cheer team.
And to look at it another way, this season’s fabulous run got its start during the closing weeks of last year’s march to a Division 1 runner-up finish.
With only one senior a year ago, Stevenson came in second to champion Rochester, after taking third at the MHSAA Finals in 2016 and seventh in 2015.
But taking that next step was only part of the motivation for the Titans – the MHSAA/Applebee’s statewide “Team of the Month” for January. Just as important was a commitment made two weeks before last season’s championship meet, when a group of leaders – including many who are now finishing four-year varsity careers – told the rest of their teammates they would all be coming back this winter, and they would pick right back up where they left off.
“We used that right from the start this season,” said coach Brianna Verdoodt, who is in her 13th season leading the program. “We’ve pushed just as hard as last season, but this year is cool. We can be super intense, but we have so many more opportunities to love on them too, which is what you go into coaching to do. This year is the most fun year of coaching I’ve had because of that.”
Stevenson enters Saturday’s District at Warren Mott with the top scores in Division 1 this season for every round – 238.3, 233.4 and 322.1, respectively – and overall at 792.2. The top-ranked Titans’ average score of 785.3 is nine points better than the second-highest in Division 1 and more than four points higher than any team in any division this winter.
And they owned January. First came a Division 1-2 and overall win at the Richmond Invitational, where they scored 10 more points than the reigning Division 3 runner-up Blue Devils. Stevenson bested the field at its Titan Invitational on Jan. 20, finishing three points ahead of current No. 3-ranked Rochester Adams in Division 1 and posting the highest score against an overall field that also included reigning Division 3 champ Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Richmond and Division 2 No. 5 Southgate Anderson.
A week later, Stevenson won the Lake Orion Invitational, finishing 2.5 points better than runner-up Rochester in the Division 1 competition and posting the top score regardless of division against a field that again included Notre Dame Prep, plus reigning Division 2 champion Allen Park and runner-up Gibraltar Carlson.
But it was actually part of a second-place showing to start the season that added another rev to the Titans’ drive this winter. Stevenson finished second at its first competition, the Troy Invitational on Dec. 9, but Verdoodt posted her team’s three rounds on Facebook – and the Round 1 has more than 1 million views, tons of positive comments and shares that took the routine all over the world.
Verdoodt thinks another second-place finish has come right at the right time as well. Although the Titans clinched the Macomb Area Conference Red championship, they finished second to No. 7-ranked Warren Cousino in the final league competition last week.
The next day’s practice was the team’s best practice all season, Verdoodt said.
“It brought it back home for them – they haven’t won anything yet, nothing that matters,” Verdoodt said. “It was wonderful. It needed to happen, and I’d rather it happen now.”
Last year’s pep talk helped take the pressure off heading into the biggest meets because nearly the entire team would have another chance to compete together. This team of 22 athletes includes 10 seniors – and after having to press some directly into varsity action from junior high last winter, Verdoodt has been able to get more creative because of her team’s added strength and experience.
Lily Juncaj, Izzie Nitecki, Grace Broadworth and Carolina Poliss are all seniors who made the all-state first team last season, and total nine athletes from last year's team earned some level of all-state recognition.
The perspective will be different this time with so many seniors finishing their high school careers – and the opportunity to win the first cheer championship in school history surely will be a motivator in the three weeks to come.
“They just get it. They all knew what it felt like to take second place in the state, coming from a team that if you’d seen at the beginning of (last) season – Good Lord,” Verdoodt said. “They were so excited about that.
“But then they kinda realized, ‘Hey, we can actually do this.’”
Past Teams of the Month, 2017-18
December: Cadillac boys bowling - Report
November: Ottawa Lake Whiteford football - Report
October: Beaverton volleyball - Report
September: Shepherd girls golf - Report
PHOTO: (Top) The Sterling Heights Stevenson competitive cheer team has 22 athletes, including 10 seniors. (Photos courtesy of the Stevenson cheer program.)
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.