PUBLISHED:
Sunday, March 11, 2007

Leaders of the Pack

Breckenridge wins
fourth straight state title

By DREW ELLIS

Sun Sports Writer

GRAND RAPIDS - Many may look at
Breckenridge winning its seventh state title in competitive cheer and think
it is just another title to add to the list for the Huskies.

But,
Saturday's Division 4 championship means a lot more in many ways for
Breckenridge than those in year's past.

The
Huskies walked into the finals with a small roster of just nine girls, some
of which were injured.

Breckenridge
was also going for its fourth title in a row, something it had tried before,
but fell short of by half a point in 2003.

Add
to that, Breckenridge Coach Deb Gaines was coaching her final meet on
Saturday, and the victory for the Huskies will be perhaps the most memorable
of the seven, as the Huskies scored a 721.0 for first place.

"Our
girls just performed awesome tonight," Gaines said. "The low
numbers didn't concern me because we were performing well all year. I just
wanted the girls to go out on a high note and perform their best and they did
that."

The
Huskies scored the top score in each round, scoring a 199 in round one, a 219
in round two, and a 303.0 in round three.

Pewamo-Westphalia,
Breckenridge's long-time rival, once again placed second, with a 699.2.

It
was the Pirates that spoiled the Huskies' quest for four-straight titles in
2003, and Saturday's win completed a goal that Gaines and Breckenridge had
been working toward for four years.

"It
was a great finishing cap for us," Gaines said of the four-peat.
"The girls were all yelling 'four is sweet' and some of my alumni from
the 2003 team had come up to me and told me that this accomplishment was long
overdue and that we could finally close that memory."

Now
that Gaines has closed that chapter of her coaching career, her book on
coaching is also complete, as she hangs up her career with seven state
championships.

"It
was a calm feeling for me," Gaines said of coaching her final meet.
"We were able to win and I looked at my assistant and my girls and knew
I had no regrets. I knew it was time for me to walk away."