MOUNT PLEASANT – Veteran Allen Park coach Julie Goodwin jumped off the coach’s podium after her team's Round 3 showing Saturday and arrived swiftly at the side of the mat to celebrate with her delirious team.

“We needed a good one, and the girls really delivered,” said Goodwin, who is in her 24th year as AP’s coach. “I felt really good about things after that, and I wanted to get over there and celebrate.”

Allen Park’s strong final round turned out to be just barely enough to hold off Downriver Conference rival Gibraltar Carlson, which took the mat right after the Jaguars and showed no fear, nailing a very difficult routine and posting the best Round 3 score in the eight-team field.

In the end, it was the Jaguars’ higher scores in the first two rounds that allowed them to three-peat as Division 2 champions at Central Michigan University’s McGuirk Arena, finishing with a final score of 790.40 – which was a scant 0.32 of a point better than that scored by Carlson (790.08).

Carleton Airport (779.50) placed third, followed by Walled Lake Western (772.00) and Mason (769.46).

Allen Park has won three Division 2 titles in a row and six of the last seven, with Carlson capturing the 2023 crown.

In fact, it was 19 years ago – all the way back to 2007 and Holland Christian – when a team other than Allen Park or Carlson won the Division 2 championship. Allen Park has won eight titles over that stretch and Carlson 11 (out of its 12 overall).

Goodwin noted that this year’s team was only the second during her career to go through a season undefeated.

Carlson finished second to AP in all of those major meets, which had the Marauders determined going into the Finals.

“We decided that we were going to give them a special Round 3 at state,” said fifth-year Carlson coach Alyssa Tocco, who happens to be a 2016 Allen Park graduate who cheered for Goodwin. “We took a huge risk with a very difficult final round, and it paid off for us. The girls had fire in them this whole week.”

Carlson’s final-round score of 321.80 bested Allen Park’s (321.30) for the first time this season, but it wasn’t quite enough to pull off the upset.

The Marauders had one of the youngest teams out of all 32 at the Finals, with just two seniors – Jaidyn Cox and Kendra Ochab. The team’s two captains were both juniors, Kaitlyn Skinner and Calli Baker.

“It is such an honor to cheer for Carlson and to represent all of the great teams they’ve had through the years,” said Baker. “We will definitely be back again.”

Allen Park also had a young team this winter, with just four seniors, led by returning all-stater Sophia Ramey. The other seniors were Delilah Cotton, Savannah Flores and Samantha Unger.

The Jaguars were powered by a standout group of seven juniors, including three returning first team all-staters in Ella Brown, Peyton Keys and Isabella Robinet, along with Daryn Bailey (second team) and Ava Rice (honorable mention).

Ramey said things were a little dicey going into Round 3 on Saturday, as the Jaguars went first in that round and didn’t start preparing early enough.

“We weren’t quite ready, we were in the middle of the chant we do when they called us up,” said Ramey. “It wasn’t ideal, but we just raced out there and did our thing one last time.”

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PHOTOS (Top) Allen Park coach Julie Goodwin presents the Division 2 championship trophy to her team Saturday. (Middle) The Jaguars perform a routine at McGuirk Arena.