Serving Greenville, Belding and Montcalm County, Michigan
since 1854.

Breckenridge, Unity Christian win at Belding Cheer Invitational

BY CHIP BURCH

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

January 13, 2006

BELDING — A variety of
rounds got the three local teams taking part in Thursday’s Belding
Competitive Cheer Invitational in trouble. For the host Redskins, it was
Round 3. For Central Montcalm, it was two
rounds. For Montabella, it was all three. Meanwhile, two time defending

Division 3 champion Breckenridge (671.9 points) won the
White Division easily over Saranac ( 543.3) and
Montabella ( 359.8). Hudsonville Unity Christian came from behind to capture
the Orange Division. The Crusaders scored 60.8 points, followed by Belding ( 582.8), Central Montcalm
( 548.1) and Wyoming Kelloggsville ( 479.7).

Belding
turned a 9.5 point deficit after Round 1 into a threepoint
lead after the second round. The Redskins were helped out by a sevenpoint penalty on the Crusaders because their Round 2
skills weren’t performed in the order listed on the sheet. “After
rounds 1 and 2 I was pleased with our effort,”

Belding
Coach Stacy Venneman said. “Round 3 seems to
kill us every time.”

Unity
Christian outpointed Belding in the third round
265244 for the triumph.

“After
Round 2 we were in first place,” Venneman
said. “We still have some things to work on before our first (OK Blue)
conference meet.” Such as? “ Their stunting skills,”

Venneman said. “They hit them at practice but
they dropped them in competition every time.”

Central
Coach Deb Comden said her team’s goal was
“to up our scores and we only upped them in
one round.” That was Round 1. “I was happy with our Round
3,” Comden said. “We did stick all our
stunts. “We have to tighten up our motions,” she said. “We
have to know what we’re doing out there.”

Comden dismissed the notion that Belding and Central Montcalm are developing a rivalry.
“I’m just trying to improve my scores for regionals,”
she said.

As for
Montabella, which was penalized seven points in the third round because it
had a “hole,” or a missing person, Coach Andrea Coopshaw knows she has a lot of work to do with her squad.

“I
think the thing to remember for Montabella cheer is we’re still beginning,” Coopshaw
said. “Our first and second rounds we scored higher than what we did
last year. We want to gradually improve as the year goes on.”

The reason
for the hole was “we had a girl who was ineligible and we just learned
it” in the third round, she said.“We
know what we need to work on.” That’s the third round,
“some stunts and onelegged extensions,”
Coopshaw said.

Montabella
will go to Farwell for an invitational Saturday while Central will compete
Monday at Comstock Park and Belding will be off until tasting its
first OK Blue competition next Wednesday at Wyoming Park.