'The whole
package'

Hartland
cheer team eyes title; Brighton also in mix

Friday,
March 10, 2006

BY
JASON DEEGAN

News
Staff Reporter

Booming smiles. Pointy toes. Crisp
claps. Hartland competitive cheerleading coach Paula Cunningham is dissecting
every detail at a recent practice.

The veteran coach demands
perfection as her Eagles perform their routines over and over. A single
mistake drops one cheerleader to her knees for pushups.

Cunningham wants more charm, more
unity, more of everything.

"You're gonna
smile the whole way through,'' she says. "You've
just won the lottery. Your troubles are over.''

The chances of winning the lottery
are slim, but the Eagles do have a solid shot at winning the Michigan High
School Athletic Association Class A state championship Saturday at the Delta Plex in Grand Rapids.

The Eagles, third last year behind Rochester and
Grandville, must figure out a way to beat those two state powers, which have
won every Class A title since competitive cheer became an official MHSAA
sport in 1994. Brighton, eighth a year ago,
also will compete in the 10-team field.

"I don't think we've peaked
yet,'' Cunningham says. "There's not one
competition where all three rounds are perfect. I'm hoping they have that
performance (Saturday).''

The Eagles, who won a regional
championship March 4, say they're ready. Ten seniors are motivated to go out
on top.

"This team has what it takes
to be first in the state. The attitude. The skills. We are the whole
package,'' says senior Kendra Hitchings, a varsity performer for four years.
"We want it really bad. It's all we've been talking about.''

Senior Rachel Ford, a three-year
varsity cheerleader, says this team is more determined than others.

"We work well together,'' she
says. "We work as one. We don't look at other
teams at competitions. We compete with ourselves. We want to beat what we did
the week before.''

Each cheer competition consists of
three rounds. The first two last 90 seconds and include a predetermined
number of jumps and stunts. The final round - Hartland's strong suit - lasts
21/2 minutes and is all about combining the first two rounds with a
choreographed routine that blends creativity with technical expertise.

Freshman Katie Cummings, a round 3
flier, has added "one of the prettiest double twists in the state,''
according to Cunningham. Cummings says she's never worried her teammates will
drop her. She just wants to stick the landing.

"We need to concentrate on
every motion, every stunt, every detail,'' Cummings says.
"And we need to smile.''

The Bulldogs suffered several
critical falls in round 3 at regionals, a problem
they attempted to correct this week.

"If they put on their best
performance, I'm hoping that they surprise themselves in how they place,''
Klaus says. "Hopefully, it will be memorable
and one of their best performances. That's what you want at the state
finals.''