Sunday, March 12, 2006

Competitive cheer

Rochester wins 10th
state title

Grandville's fall in the third
round helps Falcons (739.7 points) seal rally.

Cris Greer / Special to
The Detroit
News

Steve Perez / The Detroit News

Rochester High School cheerleaders celebrate their 10th state title at the
Class A finals Saturday. Around the state, championship games mixed joy for
some with heartbreak for others. As Rochester
exulted, Southgate's
cheer team lamented its fourth-straight fourth-place finish.

Steve Perez / The Detroit News

Southgate Anderson performs as it awaits the final scoring. Anderson (716.6 points) finished in
fourth place.

GRAND RAPIDS -- It ain't over 'til it's over.

These
words rang true in the Class A competitive cheer finals Saturday at the
DeltaPlex.

Going into
the final round, Grandville held nearly an eight-point lead over state
champion Rochester
and was cruising toward its fourth title. The Falcons, however, outscored
everyone in that round by a large margin, while the Bulldogs encountered a
fall that helped give Rochester
its 10th championship.

"I
didn't think we could overcome it, because they're good in round three,"
said Rochester
coach Susan Wood, in her 25th season.

"Had
they not had that fall, I don't think we could have made those points back;
they're that good. I don't think we could have done it."

Rochester won the state championship with a
total of 739.7, followed by Grandville, 727.9; East Kentwood, 720.7;
Southgate Anderson, 716.6; Hartland, 714; Rockford,
713.5; Brighton, 693.2; Mt. Pleasant, 682.1; Lake
Orion, 677.8 and Allen Park, 672.9.

Grandville
led by half a point over Rochester
after the first round -- 200.5 to 200 -- and increased its lead -- 423.9 to
416.2 -- after the second round. The Bulldogs, however, opened the door to Rochester in the third
round.

Though Rochester has won 10
titles, two runner-up trophies and five championships before the Michigan
High School Athletic Association recognized competitive cheer as a sport,
Wood felt like the underdog at this final.

"I
woke up fairly worried, but feel very relieved," Wood said. "I
really didn't know how today was going to turn out. They were not an old team
where I felt sure. When they went out for round three, they looked as sure as
can be, though."

"We
had a pretty tough year, considering, we had 20 new kids and only nine
returning. We had a lot of inexperience and a lot of lessons needed to be
learned during the season and we've been fairly inconsistent. Plus we had a
lot of injuries this year."

The
Bulldogs, who were the last to perform, were on cruise control to the state
title until the end of their performance.

"Grandville
did have trouble in round three and it's not fun to beat someone when they
fall," Wood said.

Said Rochester senior Cassie
Clem: "I'm so excited. It (third round) was the best we'd ever done. We
knew we had to do everything in our power."

Wood has
much respect for Grandville coach Julie Smith-Boyd, her former cheerleading
teammate at Central
Michigan University,
and who's also in her 25th year of coaching.

"We
put our rivalry aside for most of the year, but it's tough to be friends and
compete against each other," Wood said.

"I
can't even tell you how much respect I have for the West side teams."

Class C-D

Breckenridge
won its third straight Class C-D title and sixth overall, with a total of
708.1 points.

Hudson placed second with 696.8 followed
by Pewamo-Westphalia, last year's runner-up, 683.7; Michigan
Center, 632.5; Colon,
623; Gobles, 609.9; Shelby, 604; Brown City, 575.5; Flat Rock, 573.3 and
Montague, 568.

Cris Greer is a free-lance writer.