Chesaning, Ovid-Elsie
compete for state cheer title

By The Argus-Press

Friday, March 11, 2005
12:33 PM EST

Chesaning's competitive
cheer team captured its ninth regional title Saturday while earning a berth in
the Class B state finals this weekend.

But Ovid-Elsie's squad, which won its first state championship last season,
also is bound for the 10 a.m. state finals at the Delta-Plex
in Grand Rapids.

The Indians, co-coached
by Rachel Stehlik and Lisa Maike the last 12 years,
scored 719 points to win the regional at DeWitt High School.
The Marauders of coach Sonya Latz
placed second with 718.5.

The top two teams in each region qualify for the state finals.

Chesaning and Ovid-Elsie
delivered the two highest regional scores of any Class B teams in the state.
Allegan (717), Chippewa Hills (704.5) and Richland Gull
Lake (700.5) also
delivered scores over 700 in their regional meets.

Also competing in the Class B state finals are Carleton
Airport, Coloma, Grosse Ile, Holland
Christian and Sparta.

Chesaning is led by
All-Region athletes Savanna Rupple, Nicole Reiber, Emily Maike, Whitney Vrable,
Alex Holcomb and Chelsea Reeves.

"Savannah's
the only senior. She's stuck with it for four years," Stehlik
said. "Her leadership skills have really stepped up this year."

Ovid-Elsie's All-Region honorees include Casey Gunthorpe,
Holly Lopez, Melissa Strapec and Evelyn Braun.

Latz, who has coached 16 years at Ovid-Elsie, also
earned Regional Coach of the Year honors.

Chesaning is shooting for its fifth state title in Class B. The Indians
captured state crowns in 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2003 while finishing second in
2002 and third in 1996 and 2004.

Chesaning's four state titles are unsurpassed in Class B. No other school has
won two state crowns.

Ovid-Elsie's lone state crown came a year ago but Latz
has led the Marauders to a third-place state finish in 1997, a fourth-place
effort in 2003 and a fifth-place outing in 1994.

"Our round one and our round two were super strong," said Stehlik of Chesaning's regional performance. So far we have
the best round two score in the state."

Ovid-Elsie came on strong in round three this past Saturday, according to Latz.

"We did a brand new round three and it was beautiful," said the coach.
"And our standing back tucks in round two were perfect scores. Had we tied
Chesaning, we would have won because we had a better round three."

Maike acknowledged her team didn't have the best third round, but she said, no one in the state can touch the Indians' second round.

"Definitely our round two has been the best in the state," Maike
said. "In any class - it's been flawless."

The second round includes required tumbles, flex skill, jumps and two choice
elements. The third round includes stunting.

Latz said she and her team have a tremendous amount
of respect for Chesaning.

"It's fun because Chesaning and us push each
other," said the coach. "I'm excited for them that they get to go to
the states. We do have a lot of respect for Chesaning. It's nice that two area
teams will be going on Saturday. We had the top two scores in the state in
Class B."