By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
Of the 14 teams competing at the Division 3 competitive cheer district in Allegan on Saturday, Feb. 19, only four would advance to regional action.
And two of those four are from Allegan County, as the host Tigers placed second with a total of 726.24 points and Hopkins placed fourth with 668.94 points.
Paw Paw emerged as district champion with 780.28 points and Parchment was fourth with 687.62 points.
“I was very proud of the passion the girls showed in all three rounds today,” Allegan coach Nicole Durr said. “We are really starting to hit our stride at the perfect time and all the hard work the team has put in this season is coming to fruition.
“Our girls’ consistency and mental toughness have improved and that is definitely needed when competing at the regional level.”
Having a large group of vocal supports also helped the Tigers.
“We had such a great turnout from our students, parents and community to cheer the girls on,” Durr said. “That meant so much to them. It really gave a boost to the fire they cheered with and helped them to their district runner-up placing.”
Allegan had scores of 217.5 in round one, 208.24 in round two and 300.5 in round three.
While the Tigers have been to the regional level before, this marks the first time in school history Hopkins has qualified. And the Vikings did so with a school-record point total.
Hopkins had scored of 210.2, 185.44 and 273.3 in rounds one through three, respectively.
Cleaning up round three has been a key for the Vikings’ success in the ladder potion of the season.
“This year was a bit of a rough start for our team, but toward the end of January we were finally able to get our round three solid,” Hopkins coach Autumn Kraima said. “Since then, every week these girls have continued to get stronger.
“Today our round three was the cleanest it has been all season. We have not been able to max out our scoresheet in difficulty, but we were able to have a clean enough cheer to earn execution bonus.”
Regionals are slated to take place in Rockford at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26.
Allegan enters with the fifth-highest score among the 12 teams in the region. The top four finishers will advance to the state finals.
“We will be working even harder this week to clean up all the little things that will help push us into the top four to qualify for state finals,” Durr said. “The girls are extremely driven to reach their goals and are so excited to show everyone what they can do. Their talent is some of the best I have ever coached and I can’t wait to see them put it on display at regionals.
“They are truly a great group of young ladies that deserve to be recognized for their amazing representation of where hard work, dedication and team work can take you.”
