Gull Lake grabs second title
of season

Jon Schultz | Kalamazoo Gazette, January 17, 2009

Paw
Paw’s cheer squad tries to pump up the crowd during their round 3
performance at Saturday’s Gull Lake Cheer Invitational. - (Brett
Beier / Special to the Gazette)

GULL LAKE — Leading Portage Northern by .0616
of a point, the Gull Lake competitive cheer team had a
serious gut-check entering the third round of the Gull Lake Invitational on
Saturday.

"We knew we were
pretty much tied for first, so we just needed to hang in there and pull
ahead," Blue Devils senior captain Maggie Klein said. "There was
extra pressure, but all we needed to do was have a clean round. We didn't
need to be over the top or anything."

With multiple stunts,
tumbling passes and mounts, having a clean round might not be as easy as it
sounds. But the Blue Devils pulled it off and completed their routine without
any major flaws to take first place in Division 2 with 693.5616 points
(208.39, 198.9616, 285.7).

The Huskies started their
third round strong, but a failed mount threw them off course and they
finished in second at 686.6 (212.5, 195.3, 278.8).

The Gull Lake victory is the team's second
first-place finish of the season. The Blue Devils also finished first in the
CCCAM Scholarship Invitational on Dec. 13.

Gull Lake coach Angie Brown said her team
didn't approach the final round any differently despite being virtually tied.

"We talked a lot
this week about attitude and just believing before you get out there and
making that happen," Brown said. "They knew the scores, they knew
we were tied, and they knew exactly what to do to do their best, and that's
what they did."

In Division 4
competition, the Colon cheer team faced some nerves of
its own.

For the first time, the
Magi had to compete without the leadership of coach Jayne Sabaitis,
who recently gave birth. She was replaced by assistant coach Keeley Boals.

"Everyone was
nervous, felt kind of unorganized and everything was kind of chaos but I
think everything went well today," senior back base Rachel Green said.
"Keeley did a really good job with coaching us
today, and being by herself for the first time."

After the meet ended, Boals could phone Sabaitis and
tell her the good news: The Magi placed first with a score of 707.7165
(221.6, 209.865, 276.3), which was the
second-highest score in any division.

What stood out the most
to Green about Sabaitis' absence was that she could
breathe a little easier.

"Today, we weren't
as out of breath," she said. "Because Jayne would have drilled and
drilled and drilled. I feel like that's kind of why we were nervous today,
because we didn't run through the rounds as much as we usually do, but we
pulled together."

In Division 3, even Three
Rivers' best effort couldn't come close to matching Chippewa Hills' score, and
the Wildcats placed second with a total of 657.9686 (204.2, 179.768, 274).

Chippewa Hills won with
709.0145 (221.9, 213.3048, 281.7), and Paw Paw
placed third at 603.7796 (175.4, 158.87, 269.5).

A picture-perfect third
round did not yield the type of marks Three Rivers first-year coach Ashlie LeMieux said she had
hoped for.

"They did hit
everything, however we didn't score good ... but they did do very well,"
LeMieux said.

Portage Central placed
second out of two teams in Division 1 with a score of 610.62 (184.7, 168.52,
265.4). Forest Hills Eastern took first with 688.396 (204, 207.716, 280.8).

"We're excited
because we haven't gotten a medal yet this year," Mustangs freshman
Laura Levene said.  "And it's just exciting to actually get one."