Falcons are OAA cheer champs

BY DAN O'MEARA

STAFF WRITER

Months of practice and
preparation had its reward for members of the Farmington High varsity

The members of
the Farmington High School competitive varsity cheer team are (front row,
left to right) Allison Reith, Danielle Lalli,
Denise Gerdes, Annie Wardle, Meghan Gruver,
Breanne Ogrodnick, (middle row, left to right)
Michelle Hoffman, Erin Watkeys, Stephanie Birrell, Hadley Smith, Chelsea Connors, (back row, left
to right) Lola Oyebefun, Holly Ann Reuter, Airelle Vincent-Taylor, Alice Sheehan, Lauren Adams and
Katie Green. Not pictured is Brittnay Webster.
The Falcons are coached by Mary Green.

Members of the Farmington High School
competitive varsity cheer team perform their winning routine in the Oakland
Activities Association Division II competition Feb. 4 at Berkley High School.

competitive cheer squad earlier
this month.

Coach Mary Green and
the 18 girls on the team saw their efforts come to fruition Feb. 4 with a
first-place finish in the Oakland Activities Association Division II
competition.

In the day-long event
at Berkley High School, the Falcons outperformed
five other teams to win their first title in the MHSAA-sanctioned sport.

"It meant
everything at the time," Green said. "It just shows that hard work
pays off. When you're a team, good things can happen, and it was just a
really good day.

"We had a lot of
support form parents and other students who came to see us. It meant a lot to
have fans there. That's something we haven't always had."

The Farmington girls began practicing five days
a week in mid November, and they worked for two
months at putting their synchronized routines together before entering their
first event.

"It has to be a
group thing or it won't work," Green said. "It has to be a team,
especially when doing stunts. Everybody has to be there (in the correct
spot), and everything has to be 100 percent. That's something these girls are
really good at."

The Falcons have an
experienced team, which is an invaluable asset and a major factor in the
team's success, according to Green.

Seniors Lola Oyebefun, Brittnay Webster,
Annie Wardle, Danielle Lalli, Holly Ann Reuter and
Denise Gerdes are in their fourth year of
cheerleading.

Juniors Katie Green,
Lauren Adams, Allison Rieth, Alice Sheehan,
Stephanie Birrell and Airelle
Vincent-Taylor are third-year team members, and
sophomores Chelsea Connors, Meghan Gruver, Michelle Hoffman, Breanne Ogrodnick, Hadley Smith and Erin Watkeys
are in their second season.

"I think (the
experience factor) makes them calmer," Green said. "They go in with
confidence; they know what they're doing. The mental part of it is probably
75 percent. If you get them relaxed and happy, they go in confident."

The combined
gymnastics and stunting skills of the Farmington
girls enabled them to win the three-round, OAA competition, Green said.

The Falcons were tied
for first place after the first round; they won the next and were second in
the third. The end result was a 645-point total that put Farmington
well ahead of runner-up Berkley.

"In Round One,
you have to do six form changes and two jumps," Green said.

"Then you get
additional points for variety and difficulty, which we added in so we'd get
the maximum number of points."

Round Two is a
compulsory round in which every team does the same first 10 moves and then
performs five skills of its choosing. The skills are selected from the
tumbling, jumps and flexibility categories. The third round involves all
stunting and tumbling.

"Everybody has to
cheer in unison," Green said. "Nobody can be any different; every
single move was in unison, and it was a good day. It takes a lot of practice,
and these girls practice hard."

Sixteen girls can
compete at any one time, but all 18 members of the Farmington team are involved during a
competition.

"Two girls
volunteer to go out; they're there in case of injury," Green said.
"Every girl knows every routine. One girl's grandfather died, so another
girl stepped in and did a wonderful job. Everybody knows everything.

"Nobody sits out
two rounds. If you sit out one round, you're in the next round. We're equals
here."

The Falcons also cheer
at varsity basketball games. Unlike some schools, the sideline and
competitive cheer teams are the same at Farmington.

In two previous
competitions, the Falcons were fourth at Bloomfield Hills Lahser and eighth
at Allen Park.

"Our team is
definitely getting better," Green said. "We switched some things, somethings that didn't work. We moved some formations
around and added difficulty to rounds two and three.

"Then there's the
whole confidence thing. They've been there and they know what they're
doing."

The Falcons have
another competition March 1 at Livonia Franklin followed by an MHSAA regional
on March 4 at Livonia Ladywood in which the top two teams will advance to the
state meet.

Originally published February 16, 2006