PUBLISHED:
Saturday, March 12, 2005

Huskies, Warriors aiming for state crown

By DREW ELLIS

Sun Sports Writer

One team has been there and done that, the
other team is in uncharted territory.

But,
both teams expect to win.

With the competitive cheer state finals slated for today,
Breckenridge looks to make it four championships in five years in Class C/D,
while first year program, Chippewa Hills, is swimming with the big fish for the
first time in Class B finals.

The Huskies are ranked No. 1 coming into the Class D finals, and
of the 10 teams entered, had the highest regional score.

"It's a clean slate now,“ Huskie coach Deb Gaines said. "Regionals scores don't
mean anything in the finals, so we just need to go out and put up the best
score again this week.“

Standing in the way of the Huskies second-straight title, will
be Pewamo-Westphalia, the only other team to have won a Class C/D title since
1999. Altogether, the Pirates have won six state championships since 1994.

"(P-W) always brings a lot to the mat,“
Gaines said of the Pirates. "They are always a tough competitor and will
give us all we can handle.“

The Huskies competed against the Pirates earlier in the season
and were victorious, leading many to believe that the championship is the
Huskies' to lose.

"We feel pretty good about our chances,“
Gaines added. "We feel like if we keep everything tight and just worry
about ourselves that things should fall into place.“

Gaines will also have some invested interest in the Class B
finals, as she has helped the Warrior program evolve over the season, and would
like to see them succeed today as well.

"I think that is awesome for Chip Hills,“
Gaines said of the Warriors success. "Jenna (Ruddell) is a great coach,
and their team has a lot of desire to win. They are a good team that I would
love to see do well.“

Being the new kid on the block will have a lot of teams overlook
the Warriors, who are not just going to have fun.

"We are the first team to get to this point for Chip Hills,
so there is no going back,“ Warrior coach Jenna
Ruddell said. "We want to savor the moment, but perform well too. We have
done a lot of mental preparation for the event, and we feel ready.“

The Warriors enter the championships ranked No. 5 in Class B,
and has the fourth best regional score coming into the meet.

Chip Hills has a number of strong teams standing in its way,
with No. 1 ranked Holland Christian topping the list.

"Our goal is to just go out there and give the best
performance that we have all season,“ Ruddell
said. "If we go out and do our best, then the chips will fall where they
may.“

The Warriors will also have to compete with defending champion
Ovid-Elsie, 2003 champion Chesaning, and 2002 champion Grosse Ile.

With the variety of past champions and tight regional scoring
from top to bottom, the Class B finals should be a toss up, leaving the
Warriors a fair shot at winning a state championship in just its first year of
competition.

"This race is wide open,“
Ruddell added. "It can be anybody that wins. Teams have beaten other teams
that have beaten other teams, so it will be up to the team that puts out the
strongest performance.“

The Class B finals begin at 10 a.m., while the Class C/D finals
start at 2 p.m. Both will take place at the Deltaplex in Grand Rapids.