County cheer teams leap at chance to maintain winning
streak

Training
year round helps to keep Livingston teams
competitive

Wednesday,
January 7, 2005BY JASON DEEGAN

News
Staff Reporter

Cheerleading isn't just a
sideline sport.

Cheerleaders no longer just
perform at high school basketball games or show off routines during half-time
of other sporting events.

They often train
year-round, sharpening their routines for the competitive season, which
started this week in Livingston
County.

Since the Michigan High
School Athletic Association sanctioned competitive cheer as an official
varsity sport in 1994, area schools have had great success at the state meet.
A county team has finished in the top six at states every season but 1996 and
1997, including a streak of seven straight years.

Hartland, which graduated
just two seniors from a squad that won the Kensington Valley Conference and
was sixth in Class A at the 2004 state meet, appears ready to keep that
streak intact.

Sixteen seniors give
coach Paula Cunningham both experience and leadership.

"It's really nice
when you have that large amount of seniors," Cunningham said. "They
are goal-oriented. They lead by example to the younger teammates."

Cunningham said she tries
to make her team's routines more difficult every year.

"I want to improve
my team. I try to step it up a bit," she said.

Both Brighton and Novi should push the Eagles. The Bulldogs and Eagles
have quite a rivalry going, considering one or the other has finished in the
top six at states since 1998.

With the introduction of
dual meets in the KVC last season, the two went head-to-head in a spirited
competition. Both Cunningham and Kim Klaus, in her 16th season as Brighton's varsity coach, say they like the new format.

"It is a good time
for the girls to get out there and get experience on the floor," said
Klaus, whose Bulldogs were fourth at regionals last year.

Howell, eighth at regionals a year ago, hopes to improve under the guidance
of new coach Melanie Sietman, the junior varsity
coach at Fowlerville for three seasons. With just two seniors, the 18 other
Highlanders have more than one season to gel together.

"I just want the
girls to perform their best and bring them up in the league
(standings)," Sietman said. "They've been
trying really hard."

Despite fielding small
teams, Whitmore
Lake has blossomed into
a state power under coach Wendy Lemons. The Trojans have finished in the top
10 at the Class C-D state meet four of the last five years.

The eight Trojans will
compete in Saturday events all season, including the highlight, the Whitmore
Lake Invitational on Feb. 9, in front of the home fans.

"We have a small
team, but it is not holding us back," Lemons said. "Top five (at
states) would be a good goal for us. The girls feel they have the ability to
do it. We have a lot of experience with four seniors."

Fowlerville finished in
the middle of the pack in its first year in the Capital Area Activities
Conference under new coach Cindy Champagne. Champagne, a real estate agent in
Fowlerville, has higher expectations for her seven seniors.

"The league was
really tight. We are looking to do a lot better," she said.

Jason Deegan
can be reached at [email-masked] or at (810) 844-2012.

© 2005 Ann Arbor News. Used
with permission

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