COMPETITVE
CHEER

Gibraltar Carlson, Chippewa Hills win
cheerleading state titles

BY
MARTIN DOBEK • FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER • March 8, 2008

NICK DENTAMARO/Special to the
Free Press

The Allen
Park High School
competitive cheer team won the Division 2 state title.

Division 2

Senior leadership can carry teams along way-- but don’t tell that to
the Gibraltar Carlson competitive cheer team. The Marauders, who carry no
seniors on their team won their first ever Division 2 state championship
posting a score of 777.280 to edge out runner-up Allen Park, who posted a 775.903.

Stepping into the
leadership roles for the senior-less Marauders’ team was junior’s
Sara Jokela and Delayna
Herndon.

“They are two huge leaders of this team, even though all of our juniors
and all our girls really stepped it up,” second year co-coach Danielle Jokela said.

No seniors—no problem.

“We didn’t need seniors, the seniors brought us down, they were
too tired, they couldn’t handle it,” junior Sara Jokela said.

Second year co-coaches Danielle Jokela and
Christina Wilson emphasized to their young squad to give everything they had
in their performance and act like it was their last time on the floor.

With an inexperienced team nerves could have got the best of the Marauders.

“We just wanted them to be comfortable out on the floor,” Jokela said about her team’s nerves.

The team motto for the year was unstoppable and it proved to be true as they
led the meet from start to finish

Carlson finished behind Allen Park
high school in their Regional by almost 12 points, a huge differential but
when it counted in the finals the Marauders got the best of the Jags.

“We wouldn’t be where we are now if we didn’t have them (Allen Park) to push us
harder,” said Herndon.

The young Marauders were compiled of seven sophomores, six freshmen and five
juniors.

DeWitt finished third with a score of 753.546.

Division 3

The Remus Chippewa Hills cheer team wasn’t
aware that they had such a commanding lead going into the third round but it
didn’t really matter as they won in dominating fashion with their
closest challenger, Comstock Park finishing 28.76 points behind them.

“We didn’t know numbers at all and I was just like in shock (when
we got them),” Chippewa Hills senior Chelsea Gettings
said. “After we got done with round three we just fell to floor and
starting crying because we were so happy that she (head coach Jenna Ruddell) told us numbers.

The Lady Warriors finished runner-up last year and won its second state title
in three years in a less suspenseful manner than that of Carlson’s four
hours before.

“It was so much fun, I wouldn’t of rather spent it with any other
girl and just working to what we got today was just an absolute
feeling,” Gettings said of the win.

Finishing third was Chesaning with a score of 716.764.