Peppy Eagles stay
undefeated — Hartland cheer team improves to 4-0 with win over Brighton

By Dan Strawser

DAILY PRESS & ARGUS

Originally
published January 24, 2008

Photo by GILLIS
BENEDICT/DAILY PRESS & ARGUS

Hartland's varsity
cheerleaders were happy with their effort following Wednesday's KVC meet at
Brighton.

BRIGHTON — Extra effort is paying off
for the Hartland and Brighton cheer teams.

The Eagles and
Bulldogs are young and inexperienced this season, but you wouldn't know it
looking at their records.

Hartland improved to
4-0 in the Kensington Valley Conference with a win over Brighton
(3-1) Wednesday night.

"They're young, but they're strong and
talented," Hartland coach Paula Cunningham said. "Every year we try
and outdo the team from the year before."

The Eagles scored
739.544 points in Wednesday's meet, while the Bulldogs earned 661.234 points.

Hartland junior Alexa Kaye said the team is progressing nicely.

"We're breaking
(the younger girls) in and trying to get them used to the varsity
level," she said. "We're working hard to be better than last year.
(Wednesday's win) is really good. We're glad to be doing so well with so many
new people. We hope to keep it up."

Hartland junior Lydia Quella said a lot of the upperclassmen have taken on
greater roles while working with the younger girls.

"We've had to
have more leadership and discipline," she said. "We've had to
communicate better, too."

The Eagles scored
217.5 points in round one, 236.044 in round two and 286 in round three.

"We're doing
better than we expected," junior Haley Bourdeau
said.

Brighton earned 195.5 points,
197.734 and 268 in each of the three rounds, respectively.

"We're getting
there," Brighton coach Kim Klaus said.
"Slowly, but we're getting there. We've got to work on the mental part
of cheerleading. They need to know the material better and believe in what
they're doing. When they do that, we'll be really strong."

It's been a bit of a
bumpy road so far for the Bulldogs.

"It wasn't good
at first," Brighton junior Emily Clark
said. "But (the younger girls) have learned a lot and they're learning
fast. I think we'll be really good when they get more of a taste for
competition. They weren't used to performing in front of people, but now
they're getting a feel for it and they're doing real well."

Despite the loss to
Hartland, the Bulldogs were upbeat about their performance.

"We kind of
turned over a new leaf," Brighton
junior Allyson McRae said. "We really got our act together for this
competition. No one on the team had felt what it was like to want it. We got
encouragement from our coaches and we finally reached our goal. We were able
to do better (than in previous meets) in each round and we stuck our stunt
round."

A little bonding has
helped, too.

"We believe in
each other more," McRae said. "We're cheering for each other and
that pumps us up."