Panthers win conference cheer

by Grant Lofdahl

Monday February 18,
2008, 4:54 PM

Tom Firme

Members of the Sparta
cheer team go through their routine Wednesday. Comstock
Park won, followed by Cedar
Springs and Sparta.

COOPERSVILLE
- If the rest of the O-K Blue competitive cheer teams had any thoughts of
catching up to Comstock
Park on Wednesday, the
Panthers squashed those ideas in a hurry.

Comstock Park got its highest first-round score
of the season, then followed that up with its best
three-round total of the season.

The
Panthers racked up 217 first-round points, then followed that up with a
203.156 in round two. Their third-round score of 302.5 was good enough for a
total of 740.116.

"Tonight
was our best night in all three rounds," said Panthers coach Kathy Felty. "It was not our highest score in round two,
but overall for the whole night it was the best score we've had this year. I
just think we didn't have our best day on Saturday, so they wanted to come
here today and prove that they're better than they performed on
Saturday."

Saturday
was the prestigious PR Cheer Tournament at the DeltaPlex, in which the
Panthers finished second in their division. The team that beat them was
Chippewa Hills, the only team ranked ahead of Comstock Park
in the state-wide rankings in Division 3. Felty
said her team's goal is still to win the state title, which should be within
reach if they perform up to their capabilities.

Last
season the Panthers finished fourth at state, while Chippewa Hills was
second. Freshmen Alexa Keene and Kayla Austin, as
well as sophomores Nicholle Schall
and Kelsey Fretch, have made a big impact on the
team's fortunes as underclassmen, and they will need to continue their
stellar efforts if the Panthers are to keep improving.

"They
(Chippewa Hills) had a great day and we didn't, so it's still up in the
air," said Felty. "It's just who has a
better day on that Saturday (of the state finals). We're still adding a few
new things, which gets the girls excited like they
were tonight."

Cedar
Springs also got excited on Wednesday - enough to score 717.656 points and
maintain its second-place standing in the O-K Blue.

"Round
one was of our better scores tonight, so I was pleased with our score,"
said Cedar Springs coach Pam Ingles. "Round two we're still working on
our skills and trying to get the timing better. In round three, it was
probably one our strongest round threes we've had this year, so I was happy
overall with how we did.

"We
just want to clean up some of the skills we have and hopefully make it out of
our regional, which will be extremely tough. I have 11 seniors and they've
all stepped up to the bar."

Sparta placed third at the meet, which
was the fourth of five conference tournaments held in the Blue this season.
The Spartans' round three score of 296.5 was one of their best, and their
total of 713.304 was enough to keep them within striking distance of the
top-two teams.

"We
got our second-highest score in round three this year, and they're just
really doing well," said Sparta
coach Tracy Douglas. "We're hoping to do the best we can and just to
keep on improving. We're still tweaking some things, so I think there's room
for improvement definitely. Of course it's our number-one goal to qualify for
state again; that would be our fifth year in a row."

The
Spartans, currently ranked ninth in the state in Division 2, placed sixth at
last year's state finals. Cedar Springs, hoping to qualify for the finals as well,
is tied for the seventh spot in the rankings with Gaylord.

Wyoming Park
finished fourth on Wednesday with 678.508, while host Coopersville was fifth
(642.199) and Rogers
sixth (570.420). All the teams will converge on Wyoming Park
High School this Saturday
for the final conference meet. The regional meets are on March 1, while the
state finals are March 8 at the DeltaPlex.