Division 1 Cheer: Titanic Finish
March 2, 2012
GRAND RAPIDS – Moments before its final round Friday, Southgate Anderson launched into an “I believe that we will win” chant with its crew of fans at the Grand Rapids Delta Plex.
A year ago, the Titans came to the MHSAA Division 1 Final with similar confidence – and finished seventh of eight teams at the championship meet.
But this time, with lessons learned, Southgate Anderson backed it up. The Titans scored the meet’s top Round 2 and 3 scores and outlasted surging Hudsonville to win their first MHSAA cheer championship.
“Last year … it was a crushing blow. We couldn’t believe that happened, and we weren’t going to let it happen again,” Titans senior Bri Walsh said. “We worked too hard to let it go. We needed to push through.
“It was a mindset. I’ve never been on a team this dedicated.”
Southgate Anderson scored 816.6032 points Friday, besting its previous top score this season by less than a tenth of a point. Hudsonville, which like Anderson had never finished even among the top two at the Finals, came in second with 813.2976. Rochester Stoney Creek was third with a score of 811.3456.
The Titans’ pre-Round 3 chant carried additional significance because of strong performances the last two weeks. As the regular season came to a close, Southgate Anderson considered itself a strong Round 2 team. For a while before that, the Titans specialized in Round 1.
But just before Districts, Southgate Anderson made some switches in its final routine that paid off big. Also, coach Colette Norscia said the difference between this and past teams was the increased time it spent conditioning. And Walsh agreed that was a difference-maker in the Titans’ being able to land more difficult skills this winter.
Although 16 of Southgate Anderson’s 28 cheerleaders were on the team last year, most of Friday’s competitors watched from the sideline in 2011.
“They were hungry for it last year,” Norscia said. They had an opportunity to see on the sideline what needed to be done, and they took that into the gym this year.”
She admitted that unlike usual, she didn’t look at the scoreboard heading into her team’s Round 3, and had no idea where her team stood. Hudsonville performed its Round 3 later in the final rotation, and Eagles coach Amanda Cooper did look at the scores and knew her team needed to be just about perfect to move into first place.
Hudsonville was nearly flawless and finished nine tenths behind the Titans in that round with a score of 324.600. But the Eagles’ final score was its best this season by nearly three points, and the runner-up finish bested their best previous Finals placing of third in 2010. Hudsonville finished eighth last season.
“We had our best three rounds on the same day here at states, and I can’t ask for anything more,” Cooper said. “We had an amazing week of practice and an amazing warm-up, so I was just excited for them to go out there and nail (Round 3). That’s what we said – just have a clean, fun, solid round.
“Runner-up is awesome. We couldn’t be any happier.”
Click for full results from the Division 1 Final, and check back Saturday night for results from Divisions 2, 3 and 4.
D2 Comes Down to Rivals Once More, but Allen Park Holds On to Complete 3-Peat
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 7, 2026
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.”
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.