PUBLISHED:
Saturday, March 10, 2007

Local trio compete for state crowns

By DREW ELLIS

Sun Sports Writer

The competitive cheer
state championships have always had a certain look.

They
are energetic, loud, and full of emotion.

This
year, the cheer championships have a bit of a different look as instead of
breaking the teams down by three classes, this season teams have been put
into four different divisions, opening up the field to even more teams to
compete.

Instead
of Class A, B, and C/D, there is now Division 1, 2, 3, and 4.

In
three of the divisions, an area team has a real chance to walk away with a
respective state championship today at the Delta Plex
in Grand Rapids.

Division 2: Mt.
Pleasant

This
year the Oilers make the change from Class A to Division 2 which has opened
up a whole new world for the Mt. Pleasant competitive cheer team.

In
the past the Oilers have fared well, reaching the state finals three of the
last four seasons in Class A, but Mt.
Pleasant just didn't have the
ability to compete with the bigger programs like Rochester and Grandville.

In
the move to Division 2, the Oilers find themselves on level ground, and enter
today's finals at the No. 2 ranked team in Division 2.

Mt. Pleasant survived a tough home regional,
placing second with 731.9 to advance behind regional champion and No. 4 ranked
DeWitt, which had 733.7.

DeWitt
and the Oilers enter the state finals with the two highest regional scores
and are two of the favorites along with No. 1 ranked Holland Christian and
No. 3 ranked Allen Park.

Division 3: Chippewa
Hills

The
defending Class B state champions move to Division 3 looking to defend their
state championship of 2006.

Entering
today's finals, the Warriors are ranked No. 3 behind No. 1 Comstock Park and
No. 2 Chesaning.

Chippewa
Hills scored a 736.6 in regionals last weekend,
which was the best score of any Division 3 finalist by 10 points.

Last
season's championship was a welcomed surprise for coach Jenna Ruddell's young team, but this year, with 11 seniors on
the squad, the Warriors have high expectations.

Division 4: Breckenridge

Breckenridge
has won three-straight Class C/D state championships and six of the last
seven titles.

This
year, the No. 1 ranked Huskies move to Division 4 to battle with many of the
usual suspects, like No. 2 ranked Hudson,
and No. 3 ranked Pewamo-Westphalia.

Breckenridge
will be looking for its fourth-straight state championships, which is
something that eluded the Huskies in 2003, when Breckenridge fell shy of
winning its fourth-straight title by half a point, losing to
Pewamo-Westphalia.

The
Huskies are also lower in number this year than they have been in years past, which adds a new challenge to conquer for
Breckenridge.

Despite
all of the potential suitors to the title, the Huskies are still the
favorites entering today's championship and have the experience to win.

The
state finals will begin today at 10 a.m. with Division 2, followed by
Division 3 at 2 p.m., and Division 4 at 6 p.m.