Otsego, Three Rivers finish strong
seasons on a high note

Sunday,
March 11, 2007

By
Graham Couch

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GRAND
RAPIDS --
Otsego and Three
Rivers entered
Saturday's Division 3 competitive cheer state finals with different
expectations.

Each team achieved its
goal.

Otsego, which had made it
to the DeltaPlex as recently as 2004 -- but not under third-year coach Nicole
Durr -- garnered 676.5 points from the judges in
its three rounds to grab fifth place.

Three Rivers, tickled just
to be at the dance, took eighth in the 10-team field with 660.6.

``Really, our goal was top
five and we accomplished that,'' Otsego senior Lauren Lincoln said.

Said fellow Bulldogs
senior Amanda Hawley: ``We set our standards high. We had beaten a lot of the
teams here.''

Chesaning won the
championship with 727.6 points.

``We had three really good
rounds,'' Durr said. ``The key for us was top five
and that's what we did against some really stiff competition with a young
team. ... I'm really proud of them.''

Durr, who returns 12 of 17 team members
next season, said her girls had ``a little more of a spark'' than at regionals, when they finished second to Three Rivers.

``They were a little
nervous (at regionals),'' Durr
said. ``Today they cheered, they just let it go and cheered.''

Three Rivers was just as
thrilled by its day.

``We're ecstatic,''
Wildcats coach Giovanna Sabatini said. ``Eighth in the state, that's pretty
good. I couldn't have asked for more of my team. They've never been here. We
were all overwhelmed and taking it in.''

Several thousand fans
attended each of Saturday's three division finals at the DeltaPlex.

Sabatini also has a young
team, with 10 cheererleaders back next season. Then,
just being here might not be enough.

``It's really good for us
to come,'' Sabatini said. ``Now my underclassmen are like, `We need to work
even harder to get back here.'''

Division 2

It's been one incredible
turnaround this season for Portage Northern's
competitive cheer team. That fact had long been cemented before the Huskies
even took the mat Saturday at the DeltaPlex.

After finishing ninth in
its regional a year ago, Northern won its regional last week. Now, it can add
a seventh-place finish at the Division 2 state finals to its resume.

The Huskies tallied a
three-routine score of 654.20 to do just that, winding up just ahead of
eighth-place Mattawan (651.30). Holland Christian (722.30) won the 10-team
finals.

``I was very realistic,''
first-year Northern coach Heather Prentice said after the Huskies program
made its state finals debut. ``I knew we'd have to have a perfect day in
order to win and we weren't perfect. We had a good day and that's all I can
ask of these kids. They had fun and gave me everything they could give me.''

About the only thing
Northern wasn't planning on doing was making it back home in time to cheer on
its boys' basketball team in its district final Saturday night.

``We want them to enjoy
this aspect and enjoy being a competitive cheer team and not be a sideline
team today,'' Prentice said.

By all accounts, Northern
has.

``It's been the most
amazing senior year,'' Northern's Amanda Kocefas said. ``It's been a phenomenal year, almost
surreal.''

Unlike Northern, Mattawan
wasn't on its maiden voyage to the finals, but none of the Wildcats,
including four-year head coach Nichole Cerutti, was
with the team during its last trip six years ago.

``It was such a great
experience for us,'' Mattawan senior Erica Mulder
said. ``I've worked four years on varsity to get here.

``We never really had
(expectations at state). Our goal this year was to make state. We just wanted
to be here and it was fun. We definitely did our best. It was a great way to
end the season and my high school career.''

Division 4

For Colon, four straight years of reaching the
competitive cheer state finals has made the trip to the DeltaPlex routine.

Saturday, the Magi
finished sixth with 618.4 points. Last year, Colon placed fifth, its best finish during
its recent run.

``Our goal was fourth or
better,'' senior Melissa Thornton said. ``But mostly we wanted every round to
do the best we can.''

Gobles' best effort was
enough for 598.1 points and ninth place in its second trip to the finals
(2006 also).

``We took a penalty in
Round 1 and started off the day kind of rough,'' first-year Tigers coach
Danielle Groth said. `` ... Round 3 we nailed it
and were hoping it would pull us further ahead but it didn't.''