Hartland cheer
off to strong start

By Rick Shepich

DAILY PRESS & ARGUS

Photo by MARK A.
DULL

Members of the Hartland competitive cheer team
perform during Monday's KVC-season-opening meet against Howell. The Eagles
won by a large margin.

HARTLAND
— It was the first competitive cheer meet of the season and nerves were
understandably running high.

But once each team
stepped on to the mat, spirit took over.

For Hartland, the
season couldn't have gotten off to a better start.

In
their own gym, the Eagles beat Kensington Valley Conference foe Howell
656.7-537.8, and possibly even surprised themselves in the process.

"We don't expect
(a performance like Monday's), but we prepared ourselves really well this
year," Hartland's Katie Nester said. "We practiced three hours a
day all through winter break. It was tough, but it really worked out for the
best for us."

As if the pressure of
the first meet of the season wasn't enough, the Eagles had a few girls either
competing for the first time or in new positions.

"I've got two
girls out there that have not competed at the high school level yet and I was
really pleased with them," Hartland coach Paula Cunningham said.
"They were really nervous going out there and they just kicked it out.
They did an excellent job tonight. I was really impressed with them."

According to Howell
coach Rae Ann Dumas, her team shared in those pre-performance jitters.

"There were a lot
of nerves," Dumas said. "We've just got to work harder. Being the
first meet, though, they did very, very well. I'm proud."

For their first meet,
the Highlanders were generally pleased with their overall execution.

"I think we did
well," senior Ashley Faucher said. "We
just learned (our routines) last week, so I think we'll improve as the season
goes on."

Hartland was solid in
all three rounds, but was particularly impressive in the third round, in
which teams are allowed to execute throws and mounts.

Their excitement was
evident when they ran off the mat after the performance, smiling, cheering
and celebrating with hugs.

"We had a lot of
young flyers for round three," Hartland's Alison Tinsley said. "It
was amazing. Some girls that have only been cheering for one year just came
out and nailed it."

The Eagles home crowd
certainly was a factor, at times cheering their squad on so loudly that the
team's cheer was drowned out.

"In round two,
after the tucks, that was like the loudest screaming I had ever heard in my
life," the Eagles' Kailey Leiter
said. "It was a great, great feeling."

Cunningham feels the
fans certainly make a difference for her team.

"We need that
crowd," she said. "We have the best fans in the state and the girls
definitely feed off that."

Both Howell and
Hartland will now have just one day to clean up any mistakes from Monday's
competition before competing again on Wednesday. Neither squad, however, was concerned
about the short turnaround.

"We got our first
competition jitters out, so I think we'll be OK," Faucher
said.

Cunningham said
Monday's performance should give the Eagles a confidence boost going forward.

"They'll
be fired up for Wednesday," she said.