Oxford's loud cheers fuels hope that
success will breed success

Originally published March 18, 2007

BY DAN STICKRADT

STAFF WRITER

Oxford's competitive cheer team was never a
program that drew statewide recognition.

The Wildcats never
qualified for the state finals and the program didn't have a ton of
championship hardware in its trophy case over the past decade.

This year Oxford head
coach Alanna Stockley
hopes the impression of her program will change for the better -- and that
her program will reap the benefits of a successful season.

Oxford finished 10th at last weekend's
Division 2 state tournament with a 614.1 total. That was below what the
Wildcats were used to scoring down the stretch of the season -- Oxford scored
a season-high 654.4 points in winning its regional March 3 -- but
nevertheless it was a major step in the right direction for a team living in
the shadows of state powerhouses Rochester and Lake Orion.

It marked Oxford's first-ever
appearance at the MHSAA state finals, which started in 1994.

"We're hoping that
this will attract kids to our cheer program," Stockley
said. "We only had 17 kids on our varsity. A lot of those (powerhouse)
schools will have over 30 kids on varsity. We hope that by making the state
finals this year, it will have some kids say, 'We have a good cheer team at Oxford.' And that will
draw them to try out."

The window of opportunity
came with the multitude of changes this season to the sport. With the
consolidation of the MHSAA and MCCA tournaments and with the arrival of more
than 100 new programs statewide, the MHSAA switched from three classes to
four equal divisions. That moved Oxford
and many other small Class A schools into Division 2, which is made up of
small Class A schools and middle-to-large Class B schools.

"That helped a
ton," Stockley said. "In the past we
would go into a regional just hoping to be in the top 10 or the top half.
Now, we have a chance. Some of those Division 1 schools are a lot bigger than
us and the other schools (that were) in our region this year."

True. Lake Orion,
which finished sixth in the state in Division 1 this year and was in the same
region as Oxford
for the past several years, has over 2,300 students in its high school. Oxford is just under
1,300 students -- over 1,000 students smaller than its neighbor five miles to
the south.

In the past, the
Wildcats would have stuck in the same Class A region with Lake Orion,
along with 11-time state champion Rochester
and several other large Class A schools in Oakland County.
Now with the new format, it gives programs like Oxford a chance to make it to the big
dance.

"We just hope that
we can build on what we've done this season," Stockley
said. "We got a taste of what it's like to compete (at the state
finals).

"But we lost nine
seniors and that's a lot," continued Stockley.
"I don't want to say it's a rebuilding season, but we have some work cut
out for us."

Another obstacle for Oxford is that there is
not a junior-varsity, freshman or middle school programs due to budget cuts.
The Wildcats are at a disadvantage without those teams competing and cheering
at games.

"It is a
disadvantage for us. We're the only ones around here that had those type of cuts," said Stockley.
"We're doing what we can. The varsity kids have a kids
camp in July and we try to get the word out there, encourage kids to come
out. But it's not easy. But we had a young girl at our gymnastics workout the
other day show up that hasn't been there in a while. That's a good
sign."