Thursday, March 10, 2005

Sports

Cheers turn to frowns for Lake Orion Dragons' cheer team misses
finals cut by 2.5 points; Clarkston advances in MCCA

(248) 651-7575, Ext.
12

By Dan Stickradt

Staff
Writer

Like few
can rival in any other sport, Rochester
has dominated the sport of competitive cheer throughout the past 20 years.

That
domination continued Saturday afternoon on the Falcons' home court.

Top-ranked Rochester amassed a state-leading 735.5 points to win
the Class A regional competition to advance to the 12th annual MHSAA Class A
competitive cheer finals March 12 at the Delta Complex in Grand Rapids.

The
regional win was the Falcons' 17th straight title, with the first five
regional titles coming in the Michigan Cheerleading Coaches Association
tournament from 1989-93. All of the success has come under current head coach
Susan Wood, who is in her 24th season as the Falcons' head coach.

"I
think the one big thing we have is trust," said Wood on her team's
dominance throughout the years. "You have to have trust one another out
there. If you don't trust one another, you will definitely see it out there
in your performance."

Rochester won all three
rounds Saturday, scoring 193, 223.5 and 319 points to win going away. The
Falcons truly separated themselves in the final stunt round, as Lake Orion
finished a distant second with 290.5 points in that round.

In the
final team standings - the top two teams from each MHSAA region advance to
the state finals - it was Rochester Stoney Creek grabbing the second
qualifying spot by the narrowest of margins with a 678.5 points, sending the
Cougars to the finals for the first time in their brief three-year history.

Lake Orion was left on the outside looking in,
just 2.5 points behind at 676. Troy Athens, which finished second
last year, was fourth in the 10-school field at 667.5, missing the cut by
just 11 points. Troy was fifth at 622,
followed by Port Huron (568.5), Port Huron
Northern (542), Royal Oak Unified (525.5), Berkley
(523) and Ferndale
(437).

"This
is just amazing," said Stoney Creek
coach Trisha Williams, who watched her squad finish third at last year's
regional. "This is really the first time we've had any seniors on the
team. They have all worked so hard to get to where we are now. And we knew it
wouldn't be easy at this regional.

"After
the third round, we knew it would be too close to call," Williams said.
"To finish second by just a couple points, what a relief. Nobody knew
who was going to finish second."

For Lake
Orion, which had qualified eight straight times before finishing fourth at
the regional last year and third this year, the Dragons trailed by just 1.5
points after the first round and just 6.5 points going into the stunt round,
but came up agonizingly short.

"I don't
know what else we could have done," said Lake Orion
coach Nancy DeAvila. "It was so close, just a
few points. We knew it would be close for second between us, Stoney Creek and
Athens."

The Class A
state finals will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Delta Complex, and Rochester will be
looking to gain a measure of revenge. After finishing first eight times and
second twice over a 10-year period at the state finals, the Falcons finished
third last year after a penalty-plagued third round.

"We
have a lot seniors again this year, and I know they
remember last year," said Wood. "We know we have to go out there
and have our best performance. The competition is a lot better than it used
to be. You have a bad day and you won't win."

Holland
West Ottawa, Grandville, East Kentwood and Hartland should be Rochester's top competition, while Stoney Creek,
Brighton, Rockford, Southgate Anderson and Allen Park round out
the state finalists in Class A. The Class B finals are at 10 a.m., while
Class C-D will begin at 2 p.m., also at the Delta Complex.

MHSAA
REGIONAL AT OXFORD: Hartland and Brighton
grabbed the top two spots at the MHSAA Class A regional Saturday at Oxford to advance to
this weekend's state finals. Hartland picked up 725 points and Brighton was second at 699.5. Mason was third at 658.5,
Lapeer West was fourth (636.5) and Oxford
fifth (634). Ortonville-Brandon (629.5), South Lyon (592), Okemos (591.5),
Howell (546), Lapeer East (541.5) and Milford
(488) were in the 11-school field.

MCCA
REGIONAL AT WEST BLOOMFIELD: Rochester Adams won team title and Clarkston was
one of four teams to grab an at-large berth at the Michigan
Cheerleading Coaches Association Class A regional Saturday at West Bloomfield. Adams
won the two-round event with 342.5 points. Waterford Mott was second at
(340), followed by Clarkston (301.5), Grosse Pointe South (300.5) and Grosse
Pointe North (299) in the 19-school field to advance to the MCCA state finals
March 12 at Saginaw
Valley State
University. The
regional champion in the MCCA regionals gain an automatic berth, while the
top quarter of teams in each region also advance as at-large teams. Five of
19 schools earned state-qualifying berths out of the West
Bloomfield regional. The MCCA tournament is two-round
tournament, unlike the MHSAA-sponsored tournament, which is
three rounds. It marks Adams' eighth
straight trip to the MCCA finals, while it is Clarkston's fourth straight
finals pass.

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