The Manchester Enterprise

A Heritage Newspaper

Weekly Publication

Competitive
cheer team ends season

PUBLISHED: March 10, 2005

The Manchester Competitive Cheer
team has represented Manchester well in recent weeks. Competing at several
invitational events, hosting their own event and participating in conference
competition has kept the team busy in this relatively new high school sport.

On Feb. 17, the Competitive Cheer team
traveled to Vandercook Lake for conference competition. In addition to regular
team competition, three team members were eligible to compete individually for
honors. Eligibility goes first to seniors, and then is offered to the other
girls. Senior Jessica Curts, junior Molly Sears and
sophomore Jamie Baird each prepared individual cheer routines to be presented
in front of an audience of approximately 200 students, friends, and family.

Being the center of attention, cheering for
a gym full of people — solo — is no easy task. Congratulations to
Baird and Sears, who each won All Conference titles,
and to Curts for receiving Honorable Mention in
Individual Honors.

For overall team competition, the Lady
Dutch team took fourth place, following tough competitors Napoleon, Michigan
Center and East Jackson.

On Feb. 23, Manchester hosted the second
annual Manchester Competitive Cheer Invitational, held in the new gymnasium.
The event went smoothly, planned by coach Katie Ray
with the help of Athletic Department staff Wes Gall and Sandy Grodi. The evening also served as the team's Parents'
Night, when the parents of the team were recognized for their hard work and
support of the girls' efforts.

The Manchester team placed fifth in the
home event.

Other competitions were held at Whitmore
Lake, where the team took home a trophy for fourth place and at Grass Lake,
placing sixth.

After each competition, the girls and coach Katie Ray view video tapes of their meet, adding moves
and stunts in order to accumulate more points while on the floor. Writing their
own cheers, the girls must consider fluidity of the stunts, audience
participation, strength and skill in planning their movements. Facial
expression and voice are also counted toward the overall points.

The Competitive Cheer team ended the season
with their regional meet held at Romulus Summit Academy last Saturday. Although
the team knew their newly revised stunts perfectly and cheered with more voice
than ever before, they were not able to perform a completely flawless routine.
Facing stiff competition from schools such as Bishop Foley and Whitmore Lake,
which took first and second places, respectively, resulted in the Manchester
team taking a disappointing sixth place.

On a high note, though, Manchester coach
Katie Ray was selected as Regional Competitive Cheer Coach of the Year.
Congratulations are extended to Ray for this award, as she was selected by her
peers at the regional level.

The Competitive Cheer team consisted of
senior co-captains Jessica Curts and Amanda June and
Junior Holly Staten; juniors Laura Eisenhauer, Molly
Sears and Krystle Wilson; sophomores Jamie Baird and
Deanna Uhr; and freshmen Audrey Carey, Katelyn Spring, and Kim Ticknor.

Congratulations to all the team for a
season full of dedication, hard work, strength, talent and spirit