Lake Orion,
Oxford off mark at cheer finals; Rochester repeats

BY DAN STICKRADT

STAFF WRITER

There’s something
said about having a strong finish to a season

Rochester proved that Friday
night at the DeltaPlex in Grand
Rapids.

The top-ranked
Falcons’ competitive cheer team, despite a sub-par middle of the
season, put it all together at the end, following the state’s top
regional with its 11th MHSAA state title since the inception of the
tournament in 1994.

Rochester also won a MCCA tournament title in
1999.

“There’s a
lot of tradition over the years and the girls always try to live to
it,” said Rochester
coach Susan Wood, who just finished her 26th season with the Falcons.
“To win 11 times in 14 season is a credit to
how hard these girls work over the year. We were a very experienced team with
13 seniors, 13 juniors and seven sophomores and a lot of these girls were
returning state champions.”

Rochester won
all three rounds at the Class A competition and finished with a 750.1 total,
the highest of the four divisions. Longtime rival Grandville was second
(737.4) and Southgate Anderson place third (722.2), its
best-ever finish.

Lake Orion finished sixth in the 10-school
field with 707.3 points, while Troy Athens claimed ninth (670.6).

“I thought we were strong in all three rounds and we had a bigger lead
going into the stunt round than we normally do, and that gave the girls some
confidence,” offered Wood. “We went out on the mats and performed
well. “I couldn’t be happier my team. When they came off the
floor after the first round, they got a standing ovation.”

Rochester held
a 429.6-418.4 advantage over Grandville heading into the third and final
round, and outscored Grandville 320.5-319 to seal the deal. The Falcons also
posted a 203 scored in Round I and a 222.6 total in Round II.

For Lake Orion, ranked fifth heading into the state finals after finishing
second to Rochester at a regional the previous weekend, had an off first
round of 187.5 and could never climb and higher than sixth. The Dragons
posted a 212.3 in the second round and 307.5 in the final round.

Athens, which won its first-ever regional on March 3, posted totals of 181,
199.6 and 290.0 and finished nearly eight points ahead of Utica Ford II in
the final standings but 15 points behind Brighton (685.3).

DIVISION III: Holland Christian came away with
the state title with 722.3 points, well ahead of runner-up DeWitt’s
712.8 and third-place finisher Allen
Park’s 709.0.

Oxford, making
its first-ever state finals appearance after winning its own regional the
previous weekend, placed 10th with a 614.1 total.

The Wildcats posted scores of 179.5, 178.1 and 270.5.