Cheer season hits stretch — With a month to
go, county teams prep for shot at states

By Dan Strawser

DAILY PRESS & ARGUS

Photo by MARK A.
DULL

Hartland cheerleaders flip while performing one of
their routines at a competition earlier this season. The Eagles are aiming
to go back to the state finals, where they placed fifth last season.

Howell's Angela Catron (top) is supported by
Ashleigh Cipta (left) Katie Seim
(center) and Chelsea Ward during a meet earlier this season.

Article
published Feb 2, 2007

Practice and more practice.

That's what
competitive cheer teams are doing right now as they try to get their routines
into the best possible shape for the stretch run.

Hartland and Brighton are aiming for return
trips to the state finals, where they placed fifth and seventh in Division 1,
respectively, last season.

"Each week it's a process," said
Hartland coach Paula Cunningham. "We're getting stronger, we're
perfecting our skills and we're working on hitting our stunts. By the time
mid-February hits, we're done creating material for each round. Then, we just
perfect and fine tune."

The goal is pretty
much the same every year for the Eagles (5-0 Kensington Valley Conference),
who are ranked No. 6 in Division 1.

"We want to make
it to states and place higher than the year before," Cunningham said.
"Every year we try to beat ourselves."

Brighton coach Kim Klaus said
her team (3-1 in the KVC going into Wednesday's meet) is improving every week
and that's what she wants to see.

"Our goal is to
make it to the state finals, which means we have to finish first or second in
our region," Klaus said. "I tell the kids, 'We have a high mountain
to climb and we're halfway there.' We have some strong points and we also
have things we need to work on. Our stunts are good, but our tumbling needs
to be stronger."

This is the first
season in nearly a decade that Pinckney has fielded a competitive cheer team.
Before this year, the cheerleaders only worked the sidelines for home games.

"They were
excited for the most part," said Pinckney coach Courtney Carruthers. "You always have a few girls who aren't
sure about it, but the more they try it the more they like it."

Carruthers said one of the
biggest pluses is being exposed to other cheer squads.

"They like seeing
the other cheerleaders and the other teams," she said. "Since we
didn't go to away games, they never saw other cheerleaders."

One of the biggest
adjustments for the Pirates (0-5) is having to have
their material ready on time.

"You have to have
a schedule and really stick to it," Carruthers
said. "Our girls are so good at sideline cheering. We already had a
halftime routine we could use in rounds two and three. It was hard, because
we've never had a deadline before. It was just a game and we weren't being
judged.

"Now, we have to
do three different cheers in each of the three rounds. We have to have a lot
more skills. The girls like to push themselves and try new things,
though."

Carruthers also said the
competitive schedule has forced the girls into taking their role on the team
a lot more seriously and it has made the girls take more responsibility for themselves.

Howell (2-2 before
Wednesday) is in its third year under coach Rae Anne Dumas, who is also
seeking steady improvement from her girls.

"I'm really just
looking for them to do their best and push themselves to their highest
potential," Dumas said. "The numbers don't matter as long as they
give 110 percent. That's all that matters. The scores aren't anything."

Fowlerville competes
in the first tier in the Capital Area Activities Conference Division 3 and
the Gladiators are in third place behind Lakewood and DeWitt.

"Our goal right
now is definitely to strengthen our third round," Champagne said. "We've been
struggling with injuries all year and we keep having
to replace people. Once we (fix our third round), we'll be that much
stronger. They've been doing extremely well."

Champagne said the team's
scores have been gradually improving.

"We've got a
young team," Champagne
said. "I only have three seniors among the 14 girls. I'm very pleased
with their progress so far."