Cheer teams
face change — New league, district tournaments part of season

By Dan Strawser, DAILY PRESS
& ARGUS, January 11, 2009

A new league isn't the
only change this season for county cheerleading teams.

The state playoffs will
begin with district tournaments rather than going straight to regionals.

"They moved to
districts because there are so many competitive cheer teams now,"
Hartland coach Paula Cunningham said. "The top four teams from each
district advance to one of two regionals. Then,
from each region, the top four teams move onto the state finals."

Each division in the
Kensington Lakes Activities Association will have a champion based on the
dual-meet records.

The Lakes Conference
and Kensington Conference will each have its own tournament, but there will
not be an association-wide champion.

Hartland, which went
undefeated in the Kensington Valley Conference last year for its fifth
straight title, will host the Lakes Conference Tournament on Feb. 14.

All 11 teams from the
Lakes Conference, plus Grand Ledge and Northville, will compete in the
Northville district in the state tournament.

Teams advancing out of
the district will meet the winners of the Rockford and Lake Orion districts at a
regional in Brighton on Feb. 28.

"All the teams
that normally go to states are there except Rochester," Cunningham
said. "Lake Orion, Rockford, West Ottawa, Grandville, East Kentwood, they'll all be
there. Our region is going to be like the state finals. We're going to try to
push up our game and outdo what we did last year and be stronger in all three
rounds. Nobody wants to be sitting at home when the state finals are going
on."

The Eagles placed
fifth in the Division 1 state finals last season.

Brighton coach Kim Klaus, who
led her team to a 10th-place finish at states last year, agreed with
Cunningham that their regional is going to be very competitive.

"This limits the
amount of teams that go to states," Klaus said. "We have the
toughest region. That will be pretty tough. We're going to have to have a
flawless day."

Fowlerville, which
competes in Division 2, will be in a district at Haslett.

The Gladiators were
fourth in the Capital Area Activities Conference last season and seventh at regionals.

"Last season, we
were a very strong team, but a very small team," Fowlerville coach Cindy
Champagne said. "Our goal is to finish in the top three in the league.
We have stronger numbers and stronger skills."

Pinckney's numbers are
up this year, too, and coach Sherry Hewett said the girls are excited about
competing in the KLAA.

Hewett and the Pirates
are going to more invitationals this year to try
and hone their skills at a faster rate.

"Pinckney is
still relatively young, but we're starting to see goals being reached on the
mat," Hewett said.

Howell coach Juli Brown likes the idea of going to districts.

"I think it
brings us more in line with other sports," she said. "My hope is
we're in the top 10 for districts."