PUBLISHED:
Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Oilers flip to fourth in D2

By JIM LAHDE

Sun Sports Editor

GRAND
RAPIDS - The difference isn't much, rather it's
really slight. But it's there for all to see, hiding behind the numerous
smiles and never-ending energy. On Saturday morning the Mt. Pleasant
High School competitive
cheer team entered the Division 2 state finals at the Delta Plex aiming high, as in state champion high.

Yet after a couple rounds of competition it became obviously
clear that there were two teams that stood head and shoulders above the rest
in Gibraltar Carlson and Allen Park.

The Oilers stayed close to both the Marauders and Jaguars
throughout, yet in the end came up just a touch short as they finished fourth
in the 10-team finale, scoring 737.830 points on the day.

Gibraltar Carlson won the D2 state title with 777.280 points
while Allen Park
was second with 775.903 points and DeWitt was third with 753.546 points.
Grand Rapids Christian finished a distant fifth with 718.215 points amassed.

"We were just OK," said Oiler coach Kristi LaFleur, whose Oilers brought in
the highest regional score posted in D2 last weekend. "We were not the
same team we were last Saturday. I think we were a little bit intimidated. We
got down after the first round and had to try and catch a couple teams that
were on fire."

As a collective the top three teams in the meet posted the
top-three scores in each round. Mt.
Pleasant finished close
to the big three in each round, but wasn't able to take it to up to the next
level when it was needed most in the final two rounds.

In round one the Oilers were sitting fifth with 213 points. From
there they moved up to fourth after posting the fourth-best score in round
two with 218.83 points. Their final round tally of 306 points effectively
locked them into third while Gibraltar Carlson and Allen Park battled it out for the crown.

All in all it was a good day for the Oilers as they secured
their second straight fourth-place finish in the D2 finals.

"I'm proud of how we competed," said LaFleur. "We're a young team that came in with high
expectations. We'll gain experience from this and learn from it."