Spirited

Thursday, January 27, 2005

By Fred Costello

daily press & argus

HOWELL - As
the third round of Wednesday's competitive cheer matchup
between Howell and Hartland came to a close, Eagles' coach Paula Cunningham
got airborne. Even a set of heels couldn't keep Cunningham from jumping up in
excitement as her team rolled over Howell 618 to 513.5.

"Coach
Cunningham always goes insane after the third round," Hartland senior
Sarah Rogers said. "She's the most enthusiastic coach I've ever
seen."

The Eagles
started strong in the first round, posting a 182 to Howell's 151.5. But the
second round is where Hartland really pulled away, outscoring the Highlanders
203-150.5. Round three was much closer, as the Eagles edged Howell 233-211.5.

Despite a
relatively easy victory and a 3-0 Kensington Valley Conference record,
Cunningham was only mildly pleased with the win.

"I'm
happy with how we did, but not as much as last week," Cunningham said.
"We need to clean up our third round and work on our execution in the
first and second rounds. We're going to make some changes to round one. We
also got a penalty for our tumbling."

She was
definitely impressed, however, with her team's effort the entire evening.

"I'm
always proud of the girls' energy and enthusiasm," Cunningham said.
"They're getting better."

Howell
coach Melanie Seitman was more concerned with her
team's attitude than its 0-3 KVC record.

"The
girls have been improving so much and I'm so proud of how they did
tonight," Seitman said. "I'm happy with
how they did and I'm sure they're happy too. They push themselves to get
better and our two seniors, Jaylin Shreve and Katie
Jarois get the girls going. They all know what to
do, its just a matter of going out and doing
it."

Seitman said she fully expects to see the Highlanders turn
things around as far as their conference record is concerned. They've seen
the KVC's only state-ranked squad in the Brighton
Bulldogs.

"The
good thing is, the hard ones are out of the way," Seitman
explained. "We've already faced Brighton
and Hartland. I expect us to finish up with a good showing at the league
finals."

The KVC
league meet is Feb. 19 at Howell, and Cunningham said her team could very
well be in position to win.

"We
have a lot of good potential, and our ultimate goal is to make it to the
state finals," Cunningham said. "To keep our KVC title, we're going
to have to get some great execution."

She said
that Brighton will pose the biggest threat
to Hartland's title.

Rogers said this Eagles
team is reminiscent of her sophomore year. She hopes to place high in her
final state meet, should Hartland make it that far.

"Two
years ago we had a lot of seniors, just like we do now," Rogers said.
"We're all working as hard as we can and we hope to come out in the top
three."

The Eagles
next compete at the Lake Orion Invitational on Saturday. The Highlanders
travel to South Lyon next Wednesday.