Experience
pays off in championship for Otsego

Sunday,
March 02, 2008

Gazette Staff Reports

OTSEGO -- Nicole Durr was a bit worried her Otsego competitive cheer squad
might have difficulty digging deep into the emotional tank two Saturdays in a
row.

Senior Devon Mudget
said her coach needn't have worried.

``It felt more exhilarating
today,'' Mudget said. ``We just knew it was going
to happen as soon as we stepped on the mat.''

The ``it'' to which Mudget was referring was a Division 3 regional
championship, which the Bulldogs accomplished with relative ease Saturday on
their home mats.

Otsego finished with 719.380
points, easily outdistancing Lansing Catholic Central (701.536). Both teams
advance to next Saturday's state championships at the DeltaPlex in suburban Grand Rapids.

``I was worried that (the
Bulldogs) used up a lot of emotion last week'' in winning the Wolverine
Conference championship, Durr said. ``Luckily I
have a lot of girls that were on the team last year. They had a lot of
passion today, and it showed.''

Otsego is heading to state for the
second straight year. The Bulldogs finished second at regionals
last year.

Durr said the Bulldogs had perhaps
their best performances of the season in rounds one (212.500) and two
(208.880) on Saturday.

``We did have a stunt come down a
little early in the third (round), but luckily it was my senior stunt group
and they understand these things happen,'' Durr
said. ``But other than that, the tumbling was great. The girls were great all
day.

``They rose to the challenge
instead of crumbling under pressure, which has been the case in the past.
This was our goal this year -- conference champs and regional champs. They
worked really hard.''

Otsego broke the 700-point barrier
for the fourth time this season.

``I think everybody wanted it more
today,'' Mudget said. ``I mean, yeah, we won
conference, but now we can say we won regionals.''

Mudget said the Bulldogs won't be
satisfied with just making it to state.

``I want to score higher than 720
and I want everyone to do well, because this is our last competition,'' Mudget said. ``Last year I was excited and very nervous
(at state). But now we know what to expect.''

Division 4

Colon and Bloomingdale advanced to
state by finishing first and second, respectively, in the Division 4 regional
at Climax-Scotts
High School.

Colon, ranked fourth in the final
Division 4 state rankings, breezed to the title with 676.51 points.
Bloomingdale earned the second state-qualifying spot with 617.542 points and
Gobles was third with 613.505.

Other area teams competing at
Climax-Scotts were Schoolcraft (fourth, 602.597), Climax-Scotts (fifth,
581.27), Hartford
(eighth, 531.903) and Bronson (13th, 378.788).