WLAA champ Chargers 3rd at regional

After winning the
Western Lakes Activities Association title on Feb. 25 at Northville, the
Livonia Churchill varsity girls competitive cheer squad just missed out on
earning a trip to the state finals, placing third in last Saturday's Class A
regional hosted by Livonia Ladywood.

Southgate Anderson
(717.9) and Allen Park (705.1) both made the
cut and advance to the Class A state finals, which begin at 10 a.m. this
Saturday at the DeltaPlex in Grand
Rapids.

Churchill, coached by
Heidi Richardson, placed third with 659.1, the school's highest showing ever.

Rounding out the
regional field was Temperance Bedford, 654.7; Livonia Franklin, 643.2;
Wyandotte Roosevelt, 631.8; Livonia Stevenson, 591.6; Ladywood, 585.1;
Brownstown-Woodhaven, 550.5; Berkley, 526.0; North Farmington, 504.5;
Farmington, 502.6; Farmington Hills Harrison, 496.2; Ferndale, 455.8.

During the season, the
Chargers also captured the Bloomfield Hills Lahser Invitational.

"I think we just
had a talented bunch of girls that came together and had a great sense of
unity and enthusiasm,'' Richardson
said. "I thought we had an excellent finish. A
third place is awesome for us. That's a varsity first for us placing at regionals.''

Members of the Churchill
varsity include: Angelique Busse, Ashley Plasencia and Jesica Wasczenski (tri-captain), all seniors; Sara Adkins, Kayla
Blanchard, Mandi Coppola, Lisa Domi,
Kelsey Lester (tri-captain), Ashleigh Lezotte,
Brittany Morris, Dana Schrader, Erin Turel, Lauren
Whitehead and Megan St. Aubin (tri-captain),
juniors; Megan Lipinski, Sarah Parkin, Nicole
Crocker, Becca McBride, Alecia
Janowski and Amanda Snow, all sophomores.

Churchill's JV,
coached by Janene Nelson, along with the freshmen,
coached by Jackie Hamp and Sarah Snow, also
captured WLAA titles at Northville to make it a clean sweep for the Chargers.

Originally published March 9, 2006