Comstock Park wins competitive
cheer regional

by Sue Barthold

Tuesday March 04, 2008,
9:44 AM

WYOMING - A total of 16 teams stood at
attention facing the American Flag for the National Anthem played at the Wyoming Park High School
gym.

These 16 squads were
aiming at the top-two positions in the region to advance to the Division 3
competitive cheer state championship this week.

Conference
Championships are now behind them, and they competed with a blank slate in
what is called the second season for some squads. Comstock Park
took first place with 769.309 points. Coming in second and continuing its
season will be the team from Shelby
with 729.599 points. These two teams will perform at the Delta Plex on Saturday, March 8 at 2 p.m. to compete for the
state title.

Comstock Park's head coach Kathy Felty, who was also named Regional Coach of the Year, was
understandably excited about their finish.

"We really performed
well today, and we look forward to hopefully finish in the top-two in the
state," said Felty.

The area teams that
finished their season included third-place Grand Rapids Catholic Central with
713.752 points, followed by Wyoming Park (696.384), Allendale (695.023),
Unity Christian (fifth, 684.934), Kelloggsville (ninth, 642.058), Calvin
Christian (12th, 586.835) and Godwin (14th, 542.91).

Round one of the
competition had the team from Comstock
Park leading the way
with a total of 231 points out of a possible 240. Following the Panthers were
the teams from Grand Rapids Catholic Central (215.5), Shelby (214.5),
Allendale (213.5) and host Wyoming
Park with 211.0 points.

In Round two the squads
do a routine that can include stunts like back walkovers and splits. The
squads can earn points for doing harder stunts, but the general routines
contain similar formations.

Round two went to the
Panthers of Comstock Park, as they scored 223.309 points that round for a
total of 454.309 points. Catholic Central was again in second place in round
two with 207.252 points for a total of 422.752. Rounding out the second round
was Shelby (204.099) and Wyoming Park
moving up from fifth to third with 202.884 points.

Round three is where the
squads are allowed to use mounts and creativity to put together a
performance. The third round is also worth more points because of the
difficulty level, and teams can move ahead in the competition. Shelby took the mat last in round three, and they
entered the mat through a tunnel of cheerleaders from Wyoming Park.

Comstock Park finished first in the tough O-K
Blue Division. The Panthers also are currently ranked second in the state
coaches' poll in Division 3. The Panthers went to the top of the class in
round one, as they scored 231 points. In round two 13 members of the team
took the mat chanting, "Stand up with pride." Back flips,
walkovers, split jumps, one-handed cartwheels and
back handsprings sent the crowd cheering them off the mat as they exited the
mat yelling "pride."

Round three found the
Panthers with a big lead, but it all depended on a clean, mistake-free
routine. A total of 15 members of the squad filled up the mat and beamed with
confidence. Back handspring and flips moved smoothly into three high lifts.
"We want to win, fight for the win," was the theme of their third
round as they moved with precision from stunt to stunt.

The finish featured a
plethora of tumbling stunts as the crowd spelled out "Comstock."
The score of 315 was good enough for the Panthers to seal their overall
victory.

Grand Rapids Catholic
Central was the lone representative from the City League. The City League
does not have a league competition because of the small number of teams. But
those teams will be placed in the O-K Conference next year, so the Cougars
will have the opportunity to win a conference championship. They finished
round one with 215.5 points and a second-place finish.

Entering the mat for
round two they chanted, "Go CC" and used great voice control as
they yelled, "Don't give in" and "It's tough to be
Cougar." The Cougars entered the third and final round in second place
with 422.752 points. The squad from Shelby
was only four points behind, so it was important for them to turn in a solid
performance to advance.

The Cougars started off
with a bang again as 10 members of the squad took the mat to the cheers from
the crowd. They had a slight slip in the opening lift, but they got back on
track with high-flying throws as they finished strong and waited for the rest
of the competition to see their fate. Their score in round three was 291.0,
but it was not enough to hold on to second place. The Cougars put in a solid
performance in all three rounds and will look forward to future competitions.

Wyoming Park enjoys a long tradition of good
competitive cheer teams and put a fine first round together with a
fifth-place finish of 211 points. In round two, the Vikings turned in a solid
performance in placing fourth and moving them only nine points from second
place. That meant that they needed to turn in a strong performance to reach
the top-two and advance to the state finals.

The Vikings followed the
strong performance from Comstock
Park by yelling,
"We are the Park." The 12 members used a variety of lifts and
tumbling stunts to drive home their message. They made a few position
mistakes, but they held their balance to finish off the third round. The
Viking squad scored 282 points in round three, which was enough for fifth in
that round and a fourth-place finish overall.

Unity Christian started
off in round one with the required routine, showing unity as they yelled,
"One heart, one team." The Crusaders put 10 members on the mat in
round two as they screamed, "We want it more." Back-hand springs,
one-handed cartwheels, walkovers and splits in both directions showed the
flexibility and talent of this Crusader group.

With back handsprings
morphing into shoulder mounts, the Crusaders entered round three in sixth place. The Crusaders scored 281 points in round three,
using a combination of lifts, twist and flips to finish out their season with
an overall sixth-place finish.

Allendale came out in its
red and black and yelled, "We won't back down" as they completed
round one with a fourth-place finish. In round two the Falcons combined the
use of back walkovers and one-handed while chanting "We want it
done." Allendale entered round three in a solid fifth place, and a good
solid performance had the nine-member Falcons team finishing in fifth place
with 695.023 points.

The team from Godwin Heights is a small group with only six
members, but that didn't stop them from showing enthusiasm. The Wolverines
finished 11th in round one with 187.5 points. In round two, they chanted,
"We're doing our best, GHS showing our pride and tradition" as they
performed the stunts. Godwin was the first to perform in round three, and
they took the mat with just five Wolverines.

Hindered by small
numbers, it is difficult to compete in the third round against much larger
teams, but the Wolverines used some fine mounts and stunts to finish their
season with a 14th-place finish.

The Kelloggsville Rocket
team came out in round one "on a mission to stay" as they used
precise mechanics to score a ninth-place finish with 200 points. The Rocket
team attempted back handsprings as a group in round two to increase their
degree of difficulty. The Rockets were in 10th place entering the third
round, and with no chance of advancing to the state finals the mighty Rockets
finished the competition in round three with a good performance.

"We're taking the
floor, and we are on a mission to break tradition," chanted the Rockets,
and they finished in sixth place in round three with 281 points and an
overall finish in ninth place.

Calvin Christian also had
a relatively small squad with only five members on the mat, but that didn't
seem to slow the Squires down. In round one they finished in 13th place with
173.5 points. In round two the team put together a solid performance to place
14th in the competition with a total of 330.335 points. Heading into round
three the already small team had some early injuries, but it pulled it
together in the final round with six members and bags of ice waiting for them
at the conclusion.

The Squires chanted,
"Keep your head up high" and went out in a flurry of tumbling
stunts. Calvin finished in 12th place with 586.835 points.

Comstock Park
and Shelby
will represent the region at the Delta Plex on
Saturday at 2 p.m. in their quest for a state title.