Marion competitive cheer wraps up good
year

By Jeff Broddle | Monday,
March 09, 2009

MARION - Marion High
School’s Competitive
Cheer Team capped off a great year by finishing ninth in regionals,
said coach Danyel Prielipp.

Their assistant coach is Jennifer Raymond.

The team went to regionals
in Sparta
Feb. 28. They also hosted the Michigan High School Activities Association
districts and came in second to last year’s state champions.

"I have a just really dedicated group of
girls. They have made the team become a team," Prielipp
said.

This year, they had five first-place finishes,
three second-place finishes, and three third-place finishes. Competitions
were held in Marion and also Roscommon, Harrison, Kalkaska, Brethren and
Farwell.

Nine girls were selected All District
Cheerleaders at Districts. On the First Team was
Elizabeth Baughan, Kaila Austin, Megan Gillespie
and Ashley Pluger. They received medals for their
achievements.

On the second team were Tori
Gillespie, Molly Avila and Brianna Bell. Honorable Mentions went to Marisa Brothwell and Denise Troost.

Rounding out the team were Janae
Todd, Jessica Ladd, Kirsten Fromer, Julianne Fewless, Robbi Chesser, Sam Coats, Randi Bowen and Corrina
Humphries.

Baughan was
also selected for the Second Team for All Region. Baughan
plans on trying out for the Grand Valley State University
cheer team.

"It’s neat to see the skills we
have developed since our freshman year," Baughan
added.

Already, members of the cheer team are looking
ahead to cheer after high school. Megan Gillespie is trying out for Saginaw Valley State University
cheer in May.

"It was really good. We worked really,
really hard, and we came together as a team," Megan said.

Kaila said the girls made it through some
trying times early in the season, but getting past the illness and injuries
just made them better.

"We built on that and got through and
kept getting stronger as the year progressed," Kaila said.

She credited Prielipp
for being a great coach.

"She’s constantly pushing us to be
better and challenging us to achieve more. Her philosophy is ‘go big or
go home’ and we have kind of lived that for four years," Kaila
said.