It’s not your mother’s or your grandmother’s cheerleading squad anymore. Instead, the Cedar Springs competitive cheer team is an athletic force to be reckoned with.
These red-hot Red Hawks were ahead by only 1.6 points going into round 3 at the District Competition last weekend. What motivated them to hang on and give their best performance ever in round 3?
“First place was in our sights and we were not going to give it up!” remarked senior Melanie Kurylowicz.
The Red Hawks were the first team to take the mat for round 3 and had to set the bar high in order to keep that first place position. “Honestly, I was a little nervous for my girls in round 3 because we have never had to go first in round 3 this season,” explained Coach Pamela Ingles. “However, I knew they could have a solid performance in round 3 because we have been getting stronger with it over the past several weeks. Their confidence level has been growing and it certainly showed when they finished that round 3 with our highest score of the season – 311.3!”
The Red Hawks certainly raised the bar for the rest of the 12 teams that had to finish the competition. Now, all they could do was wait and see how the other teams finished and see what their final place would be among the 13 teams competing. They hoped to be among the top 4 that would advance to the Regional Competition on Saturday, February 27 at Kenowa Hills.
When the final scores were tabulated, the following teams would be advancing to the Regional Competition: 4th place – GR Christian, 3rd place – Mona Shores, 2nd place – Kenowa Hills, and 1st place – Cedar Springs! The CS Varsity Cheer Team had made history for their school, their first ever District Title! “It was an amazing feeling to be the first CS Cheer Team to be District Champions,” said senior Ashley Bout.
Many might wonder how this team has prepared for this competition. JV coach (former MS coach) Anna Ramirez had some insight. “The 5 seniors on this Varsity team, along with some of their other teammates, actually started preparing for this in Middle School when they were on my MS team. Watching them achieve the goals they’ve been working towards for years, makes me feel like the time we have spent preparing/coaching them for this moment was all worth it!” she said.
Along with the years of practicing for many of these girls, also comes the time spent practicing and competing this season. After each competition, the team reviews the scores and watches their video from their previous competition to see what needs to be improved upon for the next competition. All of this hard work leads up to the end of the season competitions that will hopefully lead them to the State Finals.
“I feel like some of the mistakes we have made throughout the season led us to our win on Saturday because without those mistakes we wouldn’t have made the changes that helped lead us to our victory,” said junior Brittani Tozer.
With one more week to make improvements to prepare for the Regional Competition, the CS Varsity Cheer Team will be focusing on the small details that could help them advance from Regionals to the State Finals on March 6. “There’s no better feeling than seeing that everything you have worked hard for has finally paid off,” noted junior Taylor Denslow. The Regional competition will be a tough competition with the top 4 teams advancing from 3 District Competitions. CS will compete against Mount Pleasant, Mason, Haslett, DeWitt, Lakeshore, Portage Northern, Byron Center, Mattawan, Kenowa Hills, Mona Shores, and GR Christian. The top 4 teams will advance to State Finals. The upcoming Regional Competition will be the toughest competition the Red Hawks have competed in this season. They are one step away from reaching their goal of advancing to the State Finals.
“I am extremely proud of this team and how they have continued to push themselves to work harder. They have been working really hard as a team to improve all 3 rounds, and it is showing!” said Coach Pamela Ingles.
The Regional Competition is on Saturday, February 27 at Kenowa Hills and starts at 10:00.
