Southgate Anderson Seniors Key 3-Peat
March 1, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
GRAND RAPIDS – When Southgate Anderson’s seniors were sophomores two years ago, they played huge roles in the Titans winning their first MHSAA competitive cheer championship.
And because those sophomores already acted like seniors even then, coach Colette Norscia felt pretty confident that title was only a start.
Her hunch was correct. That group of seven athletes, now seniors, led Anderson to its third straight MHSAA title Friday at the DeltaPlex,
The Titans scored 785.96 points, 2.42 more than runner-up Grandville after both trailed Rochester Hills Stoney Creek by three tenths of a point after Round 1.
“We’ve been cheering together since we were really little, and we stuck with it all through these years,” Anderson senior Holly Zmijewski said. “We just want to prove who we are, and that we don’t go backward. We just keep going forward.”
But it took a little kick to get the Titans rolling again.
Anderson competes in the Downriver League, which also includes reigning Division 2 champion Gibraltar Carlson and Finals qualifiers Allen Park and Trenton. The Titans finished second at their league competition, four points back of Carlson, which is nothing to scoff but disappointed those seniors nonetheless.
But it also brought perspective to underclassmen who weren’t yet part of the program prior to this championship run.
Norscia knew walking into the DeltaPlex on Friday that her team was prepared every possible way.
“It’s hard to get it, but it’s harder to keep it every year,” Norscia said. “The kids, once they have it, not all of them are so gung-ho about keeping it, working to that level, and I think we got scrutinized a little bit more as well.
“Those sophomores on the team that first year we won, they were strong and carried us through,” she added. “They learned a lot from that senior group, and they’ve been teaching each group that comes in. Our next two classes are just as strong, and actually our eighth grade group is incredible.”
All seven seniors – Marisa Laginess, Madison Small, Zmijewski, Jacklyn Carrico, Haley Evans, Aleta Madera and Brittany Walton – earned all-state honors as juniors.
Stoney Creek set the pace with a 235.20 to lead Round 1. But Anderson posted the highest Round 2 score in Division 2 this season and put up a 231.46 on Friday, two points better than both Stoney Creek and Grandville.
Grandville responded with a strong 319.20 in Round 3. But that was bested by only Anderson, by four tenths of a point.
“It’s hard to have to go out there three times, and have to peak three times, and we did,” Grandville coach Julie Smith-Boyd said. “We weren’t playing defense. … We were going for it. We wanted to win.
“But when you’re a senior, or even for any of these girls, we want them to go out just feeling great about it. They gave their all, did their best, and it was that way every single round. We’re just really proud of them.”
The Bulldogs improved from eighth at the 2012 Final to fourth last season to second and have only six seniors – including only two in Round 2, and with a couple freshmen who contributed in Round 3.
A pair of sad circumstances – two athletes’ mothers died during the fall after fights with breasts cancer – bonded the team as it took another giant step.
“These girls just really bonded together really tight, pulled together and supported each other through the whole thing. And I really felt that made them stronger at the end,” Smith-Boyd said. “Because we said, what we’ve been through was far worse than we have to go out there and do. We made it through that; we can do this.
“We did it the best we could do it. Southgate obviously did too.”
Macomb Dakota ascended from seventh after Round 1 to finished third in the final standings. Lake Orion, eighth after Round 1, came in fourth in its return to the Finals after missing last season.
PHOTOS: (Top) Southgate Anderson performs its Round 3 routine Friday at the DeltaPlex. (Middle) Grandville, this season’s runner-up, improved from fourth place in 2013. (Click for action and team photos from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Reigning Champ Croswell-Lexington Rises to Meet Challenge Again
March 2, 2024
MOUNT PLEASANT – Alexis Bales could feel the challenge all around her Saturday afternoon.
A year ago, Croswell-Lexington had come to McGuirk Arena seeking its first MHSAA Finals competitive cheer championship, and pushed past two of the most successful programs in state history to claim it – by a mere seven-tenths of a point.
And as Bales and her teammates prepared to take the mat this time, she sensed this one wouldn’t come any easier.
“All the teams came in so much harder this year, and there was really a lot of competition,” she said. “Just seeing everybody in the warm-up room, there’s a lot of these good teams. You see them, it radiates. You can definitely feel that.”
No doubt, Croswell-Lexington gave off the same competitive vibe – and then backed it up again. Just like last year, the Pioneers entered Round 3 of the Division 3 Final chasing the lead. And just like last year, Cros-Lex delivered the day’s best third round to push into first place – this time by four-tenths of a point ahead of Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
The Pioneers scored 782.52, followed by NDP at 782.12 and Grosse Ile at 781.34. Cros-Lex scored a 319.60 in Round 3 to make up a half-point deficit on the Fighting Irish and hold on for the win.
Only a few teams competing in any of this weekend’s four divisions could match the Pioneers’ returning star power, as Bales was joined this season by seniors Shelby Oliver, Cora Katulski and Makayla Rice and junior Kaleigh Kelch as all-state first-teamers from 2023 with senior Grace Hodges and junior Maggie Wallace also back this season after making the second team a year ago.
They wanted to prove they could win it all again.
“Last year was just the building of confidence and believing we could,” Cros-Lex coach Katie Tomlinson said. “It was such an experience last year, and this year was a whole different mindset going in and just truly using that for every single competition. Today’s goal was just hit their best and do their absolute best today, and that’s exactly what they did. We were proud just for that moment alone.”
Cros-Lex and Grosse Ile both scored 234.50 in Round 1 on Saturday to trail Notre Dame Prep by nine tenths of a point. The Pioneers made back four tenths of deficit with a meet-best 228.42 for Round 2 as all three of those contenders reached 228 points and pulled away from the pack – setting up plenty of anticipation for Round 3.
“I came off the mat with my team for Round 3, and were just so satisfied with the season,” Oliver said. “We kinda know when a team is on our heels, but our coaches do a good job of just encouraging us and just telling us to push through and give it our all and be the best on the day.”
Armada, also from Cros-Lex’s Blue Water Area Conference, finished fourth Saturday in its first trip to the Finals since 2015. Paw Paw was next, followed by Portland, Howard City Tri County and Lake Odessa Lakewood.
PHOTOS (Top) Croswell-Lexington completes a routine during Saturday’s Division 3 Final at Central Michigan University. (Middle) Pontiac Notre Dame Prep competes on the way to finishing second. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)