COMPETITIVE CHEER: Falcons,
Colts, Cougars escape district round

BY DAN
STICKRADT

ECCENTRIC STAFF WRITER

February 23, 2009

The road to Grand Rapids has become a little longer and
more difficult this season.

Site of the competitive cheer state finals the past
several years, cheer teams have to advance out of the district round this
season for the first time, just to compete in the regional round.

Rochester, top-ranked and unbeaten on the
season, added to its win total and will join 11 others teams this Saturday at
a Division 1 regional at Wayne Memorial. The Falcons did so by collecting a
scorching 810.8464 total points in the three-round district competition at
Rochester Stoney Creek, the first round of the state tournament.

Troy scored a season-high 805.0368 to finish second, which
is also a school record, while Stoney Creek was third (798.8464) and Utica
Eisenhower claimed fourth (795.8080) in the 12-school field. The top four
teams from each district advance to the regionals,
with three districts feeding each regional.

“It’s a lot more intense than it used to
be,” said veteran Rochester coach Susan Wood, looking back on
the 15-year history of the MHSAA state tournament for competitive cheer. “It’s a lot closer now, just to win a
competition. There are a lot more teams and the teams all over the state are
much better.”

Troy Athens finished fifth with
774.7060 points, followed by Rochester Adams in sixth (773.8580). North
Farmington finished ninth (688.9000), Royal Oak was 11th (645.9160) and West
Bloomfield 12th (642.9224) to round out area programs.

For Troy, which has not qualified for the
state finals in over a decade, the Colts are having a dream season and are
one shot away from ending a long state-meet drought.

“This is the first time
we’ve broke 800,” praised Troy coach Beth Campbell. “Our
previous best was 779. I think the girls are just getting more and more
confident at each meet. We’ve beaten several teams this year that are
ranked, even though we are not. We just hope to have our best day at the
regional. We haven’t made it to (the state meet) in the nine years
I’ve been here.”

Rochester had the highest district score in
the state in division 1, which is a surprise even for Wood.

“For all of the injuries and
illness we’ve had, I can’t believe that we are undefeated right
now,” said Wood. “There have been years where we’ve won
state championships that we lost a meet during the season. This is one of
these years where we’ve been fortunate enough to keep getting
better.”

Rochester collected rounds 236.8000,
253.8464 and 320.2000. Troy followed with 234.0000, 252.5368
and 318.5000; Stoney Creek posted scores of 235.9000, 253.8464 and 309.1000; and
Eisenhower finished with 233.3000, 248.2080 and 314.3000.

Athens (234.1000-246.3060-294.3000), Adams (230.4000-239.2580-304.2000), North Farmington (215.3000-206.6000-267.0000), Royal Oak (195.0000-185.8160-265.1000) and