COMPETITIVE CHEER: Stoney Creek has
something to cheer about

BY MARK SNYDER

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

January 27, 2005

Tricia Williams started from scratch. She had a new program at a new school.

In its third year, the Rochester Hills Stoney Creek competitive cheer team
is coming into its own, despite being in the shadow of one of the state's best
programs -- Rochester High.

Rochester
has set the standard for elite cheer programs with a run of eight state titles
in the past 11 years, which put the heat on Williams. But her even temperament
and patience have helped Stoney build its own tradition.

"We don't focus on Rochester,"
Williams said. "We have to focus on ourselves."

Now the Cougars have a firm goal -- to reach the state finals. It's an
achievement they fell just short of last year with a third-place Class A
regional finish. The top two teams at the regional advance to the state meet.
And the two teams ahead of Stoney Creek -- Rochester and Troy Athens -- combined to post
the highest combined total of any region in the state.

Yet the Stoney girls weren't fazed; they knew they would have more chances.

When Stoney Creek opened three years ago,
the team began with just freshmen and sophomores, many of whom were coached by
Williams at a local middle school. The girls finished third in the Class B regionals, failing to qualify for the state meet.

Before last season, the girls decided change was needed. The team had a
sleepover and let their feelings fly. Everyone addressed their problems and, in
the past year and a half, the girls have grown closer each day.

"We're really open with each other because we've learned through the
years that we can't talk behind each others' back," tri-captain Chelsea Belote said.

As the senior member of the group, Belote may have
the most insight into what makes a team tick, but it was her freshman
experience -- as a member of Rochester's
team -- that made the biggest difference.

Belote was one of about 70 girls in the Rochester program, which
has freshman, JV and varsity teams. Though Belote
enjoyed cheering at Rochester, the experience at
Stoney Creek is a bit different. The Cougars
have 39 girls in the program (JV and varsity). There are 20 on the varsity.

"Here we can all be in all the rounds," Belote
said. "There I felt like another fish in the sea."

She and her fellow tri-captains, juniors Alyssa Johnson and Deanna Wolfe,
have tried to unite the team however they can. They've encouraged attendance at
off-season camps and training. They have motivated the younger girls.

"We've done little games, like when we had to stand on a sheet on the
floor and hold up the sides," Wolfe said of the team-building technique in
the Stoney Creek gym. "All 20 of us
fit."

One of their most effective practices has been the "Queen for a
Day" campaign. A girl starts the day as the designated queen, then she has a moment at practice where she speaks to the
team and points out someone who deserves recognition and she reads an
inspirational quote. The routine repeats daily, eventually including everyone
on the team.

The Cougars will need to pull together to qualify for the Class A state
finals. They would have to beat Rochester or Athens in the March 5 regional at Rochester.

But there are other milestones along the way. They have yet to win an invitational
this season, but have come close. Stoney Creek took second at the Lapeer Cheer
Classic, third at the Oxford invitational and
third on Saturday in a meet with Rochester
and Troy Athens.

The Cougars are trying to break the 700-point barrier at a meet for the
first time. Stoney Creek posted a team-best
699 at the St. Clair meet last year.

In a subjective sport scored by judges, Stoney is still making its name.
Scores may rise once the program becomes more established.

"It's tough -- people don't realize who we are," Johnson said.
"But we do have the skills to get where we want to be."

Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free
Press Inc.