Mattawan, P-Central, Otsego capture top spots at Wildcat
Competitive Cheer Invitational

By Jon
Schultz, January
25, 2009

Mattawan’s competitive cheer team shows its
first-place form during a third-round performance at Saturday’s
Wildcat Invitational. Mattawan won the Division 2 competition, while
Portage Central topped all Division 1 teams and Otsego claimed the Division
3 title. - (Brett Beier | Special to the Gazette)

MATTAWAN — As the boys
basketball game ended Friday night, practice had just begun for another
Mattawan squad.

The competitive cheer
team started grinding through its routines until about 11 p.m. to prepare for Saturday
afternoon’s Wildcat Invitational, junior Cara West said.

Despite a little
grogginess, the Wildcats put on their smiles and earned their second victory
of the year, taking first in Division 2 with 712.436 points (217.5, 207.936, 287).

“It was a
well-deserved victory,” West said. “We have worked so hard in the
past week and we’re lacking on sleep because last night we were here
really late.”

And in case there’s
any question, they didn’t have the luxury of caffeine.

“No, we’re
not allowed to drink coffee before competition,” West said.

Prior to starting its
first routine, the team began to chant “Whose house? Our house!”
and with the most cheerleaders of any team present, the girls’ message
was heard loud and clear. As the 24 athletes ran onto the mat, the Wildcats
got a roaring welcome from their home crowd.

They can start getting
used to that feeling, as Mattawan hosts the Greater Kalamazoo Invitational
along with district competition, which is new to the sport this season.

Mattawan coach Nichole Cerruti said this is the greatest number of girls the
team has ever had, and there are many advantages.

“When you’ve
got 24 girls and only 16 can go in, they tend to fight a little bit harder
for a spot,” Cerruti said. “(They) push
themselves or push each other to do better just to progress themselves and
get in a round.”

The Portage Central team
is also experiencing greater numbers in what coach Katie Brennan called a
rebuilding year, and the Mustangs tasted victory for the first time this
season by winning Division 1 with 650.034 points (199, 179.334, 271.7).

“This for their
morale and everything is just going to totally bring them up a new
level,” Brennan said. “It will push them a little bit harder to
do those extra things we need to do to get better and better every
day.”

Brennan took a hiatus
from coaching last season, and as a result the program dropped to just nine
cheerleaders. This year there are 26 girls split evenly between JV and
varsity.

“That’s a big
jump,” she said. “A lot of those girls ended up quitting last
year and didn’t do it, but then when I came back they wanted me as
their coach again .”

Otsego, ranked No. 6 in
Division 3, also notched another victory onto its belt with 721.955 points
(213.9, 211.055, 297), and has now taken first place in five out of six
competitions this season.

While the Bulldogs are
coasting through wins and perfecting the little things, they have also
adopted the Comstock team, which is in its first season of competitive cheer.
Before every performance, the Bulldogs made a tunnel for the Colts, and vice
versa. And it’s probably no coincidence the two teams’ banners
hung next to each other.

“We just really are
trying to make them feel welcome,” Otsego coach Nicole Durr said of the Colts, who finished fourth in Division
3. “They practiced with us a lot over summer, and just, you know, help
them to feel like they belong, and to feel like they’re part of
what’s going on. It’s very intimidating to come into competitive
cheer for your first year.”