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

Thursday,
February 10, 2005

CM girls second in six-team cheer meet

By John Raffel
- Daily News sports editor

STANTON -- Three local competitive cheer teams that competed in
January's Hornet Invitational at Central Montcalm
nearly repeated their scores in the February version of the tournament
Wednesday night.

Chippewa Hills won the varsity division of Wednesday's Hornet Invitational
with 685 points after three rounds. Central Montcalm was second with a score
of 629 followed by Grand Rapids Union with 562, Cedar Springs with 491.5, Tri County
with 478.5 and Montabella with 337.

In January, Central had 610 points while Tri County
had 496.5 and Montabella 340.5.

There was only one six-team division for the varsity teams

On Wednesday, Central Montcalm
posted point totals of 178.5 in the first round, 180.5 in the second and 270
in the third. The first round requires two jumps, the second round focuses on
compulsory moves and the third round includes stunts and mounts.

"We did a lot better tonight. We had our highest score of
the year," said Hornet Coach Deb Comden. "We made some changes in
Round 1. It was a good performance for the girls.

"It was a good meet," she said of the competition.
"There were a lot of teams from our local area."

Central Montcalm's next meet will be
Feb. 19 at Houghton
Lake.

Tri County logged point totals of 132.5 in the first round, 114 in the
second and 232 in the third.

"The girls have been working hard and we're really
improving," said Viking Coach Jennifer Laskey.
"Our strength was definitely in Round 3."

"There's been a lot of improvement lately," said Tri County
senior Ashley Corl.

"We've made a lot of progress from a month ago."

The Vikings will take part in a meet Saturday at the Delta Plex in Grand
Rapids.

Montabella had scores of 107.5 in the first round, 76.5 in the
second and 153 in the third.

"We're coming along," said Mustang Coach Andrea Coopshaw. "We've been hit with a couple of injuries.
That set us back a little bit."

Five junior varsity teams also competed during the invitational.
Lakewood was victorious with a score of 581
followed by Chippewa Hills with 515.5, Central Montcalm with 464.5, Cedar
Springs with 379 and Tri
County with 271 points.