County teams
prep for cheer districts

By Dan Strawser, DAILY PRESS
& ARGUS, February 20, 2009

The Hartland cheer
team has a new hurdle to climb this year.

The Eagles should be
able to leap it without any problem, though.

Districts were added
to the cheer state tournament this season for the first time, meaning there
is one more competition en route to reaching the finals.

"Every time they
get out there and compete in front of judges and a crowd it makes them
stronger," Hartland coach Paula Cunningham said.

The Eagles went
undefeated in dual matches to win the Kensington Lakes Activities Association
West Division title. It's the sixth straight championship for the Eagles,
including their last five Kensington Valley Conference crowns.

Last Saturday,
Hartland breezed through the competition at the Lakes Conference meet,
beating second-place Waterford Mott by 73 points.

"We did really
well," Cunningham said. "We won really big."

Mott was the KLAA
North Division champion.

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

"We're just
trying to fine tune all three rounds," Cunningham said.

"We're trying to
make them solid. We're punching our emotion stronger, making sure every toe
is pointed and making sure everything is the best that it can be. We're not
there yet, but we're working on it."

The top four teams at
the district competition will advance to a regional at Brighton High School on Feb. 28.

Joining the four teams
from Northville will be the winners of the Lake Orion and Rockford districts.

Five of the top 10
teams in Division 1, according to the rankings on Feb. 16, are in the Rockford district. Lake Orion is ranked No. 9 and
Hartland is No. 7.

The top four teams
from each of two Division 1 regionals advance to
the state finals.

"Some of the
teams that are always at states won't be there this year and that's a little
sad, but what can you do?" Cunningham said.

Brighton finished third in the
Lakes Conference Tournament and may have a difficult time breaking out of the
district.

Howell and Pinckney
were ninth and 11th, respectively, at the Lakes tournament.

Fowlerville, which is
in Division 2, will compete in a district tournament at Haslett.

The Gladiators
finished third in the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Division.

They were tied for
second with Haslett going into the championship, but finished 26 points
behind the Vikings.

"We've upped all
of our numbers going into districts," Fowlerville coach Cindy Champagne
said. "The girls are looking forward to it. We're going to go all
out."

Fowlerville has been
using two stunt groups most of the season, but will be adding a third for the
district.

"The girls are
looking good, looking strong," Champagne said. "They look
cleaner than last week."