Mattawan
wins title

February 21, 2009

The Kalamazoo Gazette

MATTAWAN — Chalk up a goal achieved for the
Mattawan competitive cheer squad.

The Wildcats, on the
strength of a dominant second round, rolled to a Division 2 district
championship Saturday in their own gym.

Mattawan finished with
729.181 points, easily holding off second-place Portage Northern (707.121). St. Joseph and Stevensville Lakeshore
finished third and fourth to grab the other spots in next Saturday’s
regional at Caledonia.

Mattawan was in third
place after the first round.

“The girls knew
where we stood after the first round,” Mattawan coach Nichole Cerutti
said. “I think they came out with more confidence and came out wanting
to win” in the second round.

Winning districts
“was their goal all season and they did it,” Cerutti added.

The coach said her
seniors were fantastic on Saturday, adding that senior captains Sara Brown
and Hayley Cavanaugh have provided outstanding leadership.

“We’ve done
very well,” Cerutti said. “The scores aren’t always there,
but we’ve consistently improved. It will be an exciting
regional.”

P-Northern coach Heather
Prentice said the Huskies struggled in the second round.

“We had a good
round one and round three, but we haven’t had a great round two,”
Prentice said. “We need to put together three solid rounds to advance
(to state), and we have that potential to make that happen.”