Serving Greenville,
Belding and Montcalm County,
Michigan since 1854.

Thursday,
January 06, 2005

Central Montcalm cheerleaders - win home invitational division

By John Raffel
- Daily News sports editor

STANTON -- Home mat advantage went to Central Montcalm's competitive
cheer team Wednesday night as the Hornets won their home invitational and
season opener.

Central finished first in Division 2 with a three-round score of
610 points followed by Belding with 556.5 and Tri County
with 496.5.

Mount Pleasant won Division 1 and Breckenridge triumphed in Division 3. All
three divisions consisted of three teams.

The other participating area team, Montabella, wound up third in
Division 3.

"I couldn't have asked for the girls to do any
better," said Central Montcalm Coach Deb Comden. "Round 3 was one
we need to work on. Round 2 was our highest score."

The first round requires two jumps followed by the second round,
which focuses on compulsory moves, and the third round, which includes stunts
and mounts.

"Round 2 was our best," said senior Kayla Trygstad. "It was awesome."

"We need to work on a few things," said senior Megan
Millard. "Other than that, we're off to a good start."

Senior Molly Russell has been on the Central team four seasons
but Wednesday's meet was one she won't soon forget.

"Winning was a highlight," Russell said. "As long
as I've been here cheering we haven't taken first in competition until
tonight."

Belding recently had a couple of cheerleaders injured in an auto
accident who weren't able to participate in Wednesday's meet. That forced the
Redskins to make some key changes in their lineup.

"Round 2 was our best round," said Belding Coach
Jeanne Brown.

"We need to do some work in all three rounds.

"I think we did our best," said junior Cassie Rector.
"We'll need some work. We'll make it up next week."

"We're going to have a good team by the end of the
season," said junior Emily Venneman.

While the other local teams were making their season debuts,
this was Tri County's second meet.

"We did much better today," said Viking Coach Jennifer
Laskey. "The girls are working hard. They
realized what they can do best. We scored 70 more points than we did in the
first one."

Senior Jessica Geers agreed.

"We've improved a lot from our second round," she
said. "We've worked hard as a team."

"This is our first meet with a new coach," said
Montabella Coach Andrea Coopshaw.

"Our third round was the best. Our points were better in
that one."

In upcoming action, Belding will be at home for the Redskin Invitational
on Wednesday. The field will include Central Montcalm
and Montabella. Meanwhile, Tri
County will travel to
the Chippewa Hills Invitational on Jan. 22.