Center cheerleaders finish 2nd in regional

Sunday,
March 06, 2005

Citizen
Patriot staff reports

The Michigan Center High
School competitive cheer team is headed to the state meet for the third
consecutive season after edging Cascades Conference rival Napoleon for second
place Saturday in a Class C-D regional meet at Michigan Center.

Michigan Center and Napoleon were tied after two
rounds, but the Cardinals clinched second place with a better third-round
score. Michigan Center finished the meet with 617.5
points, while Napoleon had 615.

The top two teams in each
regional qualify for the state meet.

"It was great," Michigan Center coach Jessica Trefry
said. "It was the most stressful day I've ever had coaching.  Napoleon is definitely a true
contender."

While the Cardinals were
feeling the thrill of advancing to the state meet, Napoleon had a different
feeling.

"That was a
heartbreaking moment to be called third," Napoleon coach Debbie Baxter
said. "We've just had such a phenomenal year."

The state finals will be
held Saturday at the Deltaplex in Grand
Rapids. The Class C-D meet is scheduled for 3 p.m.

"My girls really,
really wanted this badly, and they went out there and performed their absolute
best, "Trefry said. "It
was a great competition."

Michigan Center finished fifth in the state meet
last season.

© 2005 Jackson Citizen Patriot. Used
with permission