Originally published February 14, 2008

CHEER: Northville
clicking at the right time

By Jeff Thiesen

Record Sports
Writer

Photo by JOHN
HEIDER/Northville Record

Mustangs Kelly Logan,
left, and Morgan Jones leap into the air with a "thumbs-up" for
the camera of a cheerleading parent.

Northville
competitive cheer coach Mindy Gentz can't pinpoint
exactly why the Mustangs have turned their season around. She's just happy
that it's happened.

"We got
off to a slow start, but things have come together for us in the last couple
of weeks," she said. "I can't really put my finger on it, just
confidence, I think. I don't really know.

"In the
beginning, we struggled a lot with getting the right kids in the right spots,
pulling together our round three and then once that happened, we started to
go with it and things came together."

The Mustangs
showcase a variety of ages on the team of 19. Just five seniors are on the
squad, and only three of them have previous competitive cheer experience. A
large group of juniors and returning sophomores carry the team. Four freshmen
are also on the team.

"In
general, we have maybe the right group of experience and new people on the
team that are willing to listen and learn from other's experiences," Gentz said.

The
postseason isn't far off. The Mustangs compete at the WLAA conference meet
Feb. 23 and then it's off to regionals March 1.

The Mustangs
hope to place as high as possible in the league meet and get into the top
five at the regional meet.

Northville
recently went to a tournament in Southgate
that featured several teams the Mustangs will face at the regional, and they
came out in fourth place.

"What we
really need to do over the next couple of weeks is keep the momentum up, keep
improving on the things we can improve on and keep maintaining the things
that are at the level we want them at," she said.