Page 14 — Thursday, February 15, 2024 — The Hastings Banner
Red Hawks and TK share Gold title
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The Trojans finished off a run to an OK
Gold Conference championship on the Red
Hawks’ mat at Cedar Springs High School
in 2023.
The Red Hawks returned the favor
Thursday, stealing a share of the 2024 OK
Gold Conference title on the Trojans’ mat
at Thornapple Kellogg High School in
Middleville with a victory in the OK Gold
Conference Championship meet. TK won
the first two jamborees of the conference
season, a pair of meets that make up half
the final standings with the other half com-
ing from Thursday’s championship compe-
tition.
Cedar Springs put together a nearly flaw-
less round three that clinched the win as the
Trojans waited in the wings to perform for
their rowdy home crowd one last time this
season.
“It is a little disappointing, but we work
so hard and we had to persevere through
something that not a lot of people have to
persevere through,” TK senior Anna Jo
Smith said. “I am really, really proud of my
team and I am really, really proud of them
as well because everyone works so hard at
the same goal. We have been at it for so
many years that I am so proud of them and
I am so proud of us, and I really want
everyone to remember this day. I’m happy
still.”
The crowd celebrated the Trojans and the
Red Hawks with chants of “Orange, Black
and Red! Orange, Black and Red!” as the
two teams intermingled on the middle of
the mat with the conference championship
trophy.
First-year Trojan head coach Madelynn
Lula certainly would have preferred her
team would not have had to share the con-
ference title, but she was pleased to see a
bit of the bitterness taken out of what has
been a bit of a bitter rivalry between the
two teams who have been so competitive
with each other for so many years now.
“Coach is the best coach I have ever had
in my entire 14 years of being a cheerlead-
er,” Smith said. “She literally told us, ‘if I
believe in you guys you can do it,’ ... she
chose to believe in us and it makes my
heart so full.”
The Red Hawks took Thursday’s meet
with an overall score of 762.82 points. TK
earned a score of 729.26 ahead of KenowaHills 683.62, Forest Hills Eastern 657.72,
Wayland 646.6 and Catholic Central 549.6.
TK had the top round one of the day at
227.7 points, then added a 213.66 in round
two and a score of 287.9 in round three.
The Red Hawks tallied scores of 226.4 in
round one, 219.52 in round two and 316.
in round three.
“Would we have liked to sweep the
whole thing? Absolutely, but I feel fortu-
nate that my girls won two of the three and
we’re still going out on top,” Lula said. “It
was a good way to end an evil rivalry. We
have always been neck and neck and neck
and neck and neck. I think for a long time
that created a ‘we’re not even going to sup-
port you’ type of environment, because
both teams are so talented ... To see them
take a picture together at the end of all of
this was refreshing. It was refreshing.
“We’re not happy about it, but refresh-
ing,” she added with a wink.
The Trojans spent the time between the
competition and the awards ceremony hon-
oring a group of seniors that includes Mar-
tine Christensen, Nina Durikova, Madita
Boppel, Aurora Sisto, Emilie Landry, Anna
Jo Smith, Ava Jahnke, Mali Holland and
Kenady Smith.
It was an especially big night for a cou-
ple of those “senior” TK foreign exchange
students. Durikova and Christensen com-
peted in a varsity cheer meet for the first
time helping to fill the void left by the
absence on the mat of junior teammate
Olivia Bouchard who suffered a shoulder
injury during the Trojans’ competition at
Forest Hills Northern last Saturday. Bouch-
ard has been a key component of all three
rounds all season long, and her loss was
certainly felt on the mat Thursday. Sopho-
more teammate Sienna Schalk stepped up
to fill Bouchard’s spot in round two, com-
peting in all three rounds herself for the
first time on the varsity.
When the Trojans got back to practice
without Bouchard able to compete this
week, Lula immediately told her girls that
everyone was going to have to rise to the
challenge. The routines were remaining as
planned. She wasn’t going to dumb down
any skills or take one of the team’s stunt
groups off the mat in round three.
“She has such a strong energy and is
such a strong person for our team,” Anna
Jo Smith said of Bouchard. “She is in all
three rounds, like most of us are, and it wasreally hard to lose someone like her,
because she is very loud, she is very pas-
sionate, and she is very sweet. She always
brings it when no one else can. She always
picks me up when I can’t seem to pick
myself up. She is just a really strong team-
mate. Not a lot of us can get that, so it was
really hard. But her cheering on the side-
lines is just as good as her being right there
with us.
“We had to put in a couple of exchange
students, which is really scary for them, but
we all believed in them of course, but I am
just really proud of everyone for persever-
ing through something like this because it
is really hard.”
Bouchard will work on healing as best
she can over the next week and the rest of
the Trojans will continue to refine their
rounds as they prep for the state tourna-
ment. That’s one championship down for
TK. Their ultimate goal is to get at least
two more championships during the state
tournament – at districts and regionals.
Anna Jo Smith said that the biggest
strides this group of girls have made this
season have been in just coming together as
a team with the youngsters, experienced
cheerleaders and exchange students taking
a little bit of time to turn from separate
groups into one.
“Now, I can honestly say we are all a big
family,” Anna Jo Smith said.
The Trojans head to Gull Lake High
School for their MHSAA Division 2 Dis-
trict Tournament Friday, Feb. 16. They hd a
pair of postseason warm-ups before that
heading to the Byron Center Invitational
Saturday, Feb. 10, and then Gull Lake
Monday at the Gull Lake Open.
TK won the D2 competition at the Gull
Lake Open Monday with an overall score
of 723.2. There were 12 teams total com-
peting across all divisions. Portage Central
won the D1 title with a score of 718.3 that
was second overall to the Trojans.
Charlotte was the top D3 team with a
score of 706.94 and Delton Kellogg won
the D4 competition with 639.44 points.
At the Byron Center Bulldog Invitational
Saturday, the Trojans won the D2 competi-
tion with an overall score of 736.36. Zee-
land West was second at 712.9 and Forest
Hills Central third at 510.4.
The meet’s top scores came from Divi-
sion 1 winner Hudsonville which had an
overall score of 759.1.ORANGEVILLE TOWNSHIP
BOARD OF REVIEW
MEETING SCHEDULE
THE ORANGEVILLE TOWNSHIP BOARD OF REVIEW will be held at the Orangeville
Township Hall, 7350 Lindsey Rd. Plainwell Mi. 49080 on the following dates.Tuesday March 5 , Organizational Meeting - 4:00 pm
Monday, March 11, Appeal Hearing – 9:00 am to 12:00 noon & 1:00pm to 4:00 pm
Tuesday March 12, Appeal Hearing – 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm, & 6:00 pm to 9:00 pmThe Board of Review will meet as many more days as deemed necessary to hear
questions, protests and to equalize the 2024 assessments. By Board resolution, residents
are able to protest by letter, provided protest letter is received by March 11th, - 12:
noon. Written protests should be mailed to;
BOARD OF REVIEW
7350 LINDSEY RD.
PLAINWELL MI. 49080The tentative ratios and the estimated multipliers for each class of real property and
personal property are as follows;
Agricultural ........................ 50.35 %................ 0.
Commercial ........................ 47.63 %................ 1.
Industrial .................. 42.95 %..................1.
Residential ........................ 43.07 %................ 1.
Personal ........................ 50.00 %................ 1.(ADA) Americans with Disabilities Notice
Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services should contact the Clerk at
least seven (7) days in advance of hearing. This notice posted in Compliance with PA 267
of 1976 as amended (Open Meetings Act) MCLA41.72a (2) (3) and with the Americans
with Disabilities ActContacts – Clerk – Mel Risner: 269-664-
Supervisor- Thomas Rook: 616-299-212155212008
TOWNSHIP OF PRAIRIEVILLE2024 NOTICE OF BOARD OF REVIEW
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Board of Review will meet at the Township Hall, 10115
S. Norris Rd. Delton, Michigan 49046, to examine and review the 2024 assessment roll.
The board will convene on the following dates for the hearing of appeals of assessments
or taxable values, poverty exemptions, parcel classification appeals and/or current year
qualified agricultural denials:Tuesday, March 5, 2024, 10:00 am Organizational Meeting
Monday, March 11, 2024, 1:00 to 4:00 pm and 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Tuesday, March 12, 2024, 9:00 am to noon and 1:00 to 4:00 pmAnd on such additional days as required to hear all persons who have given notice of the
desire to be heard until assessment rolls have been revised, corrected and approved.APPOINTMENTS ARE SUGGESTED; letter appeals will be accepted and must be
received no later than 5:00 pm the Friday before the first appeal hearing.Tentative ratios and estimated multipliers for 2024 are as follows:
Agricultural 48.32% 1.
Commercial 46.05% 1.
Industrial 47.11% 1.
Residential 45.74% 1.
Personal Property 50.00% 1.Tentative equalization factor of 1.0000 for all classes is expected after
completion of Board of Review.Jim Stoneburner, Supervisor Prairieville Township
Kevin Harris, Assessor Prairieville TownshipPrairieville Township Board Meetings are open to all without regard to race, color, national
origin, sex or disability.American with Disabilities (ADA) Notice
The township will provide necessary reasonable auxiliary aids and services, to individuals
with disabilities at the meeting/hearing upon seven (7) days’ notice to Prairieville Township.
Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services should contact Prairieville
Township by writing or calling.Prairieville Township Clerk
10115 S. Norris Rd.
Delton, MI 49046
269-623-Raiders pass Vikes to share league title
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
There is a big tie-breaker Feb. 17 in
Alma, if the Vikings didn’t already get that
job done Monday.
The Lakewood varsity competitive cheer
team finished its return to the Capital Area
Activities Conference White Division by
sharing the 2023-2024 conference champi-
onship with rival Portland. The Raiders
outscored the Vikings by seven points in
round three at the final conference meet of
the season Wednesday, at Charlotte High
School, to finish half a point ahead of the
Lakewood girls in the day’s standings.
Lakewood won the first conference jam-
boree of the season and the Raiders placed
second. Their reversed 1-2 finish Wednes-
day leaves them tied atop the conference
standings.
Both teams will be a part of the MHSAA
Division 3 District Tournament at Alma
Feb. 17 where the top four teams qualify for
the regional round of the state tournament.
They both also cheered Saturday, Feb. 10,
at the Mason Invitational and the Vikings
took a more than 11-point win over the
Raiders in the Division 3 competition.
Portland finished Wednesday’s confer-
ence competition with an overall score of
751.04 and the Vikings tallied 750.
points. Charlotte was third with a score of714.18 and Lansing Catholic fourth at
635.74.
Lakewood has now won a conference
title in 15 consecutive seasons, but the
Vikings would have preferred not to share
this one.
The Vikings had to make last minute
changes to a couple of sections of their
round three routine. They were informed by
judges that apparently judges had been
scoring the Vikings’ round three routine
wrong all season and that changes had to be
made.
“We had to add a new stunt just before
they went out on the mat, which is never
good. We had a good round three going
until that point right there and then I had a
stunt group that struggled with it and then it
kind of carried into the rest of the cheer,”
Viking head coach Kim Martin said.
The Vikings were willing to try a couple
new additions to the round to try and outdo
the Raiders.
“We took a risk in adding in that difficul-
ty, because going up against Portland we
thought we probably needed it,” Martin
said.
Lakewood had the lead heading into
round three after a score of 233 in round
one and 223.94 in round two. Portland
scored a 229.1 in round one and 221.34 in
round two.Portland outscored the Vikings 300.6 to
293.6 in round three.
“It is a sport of repetition,” Martin said.
“You repeat and repeat and repeat the same
things every practice, every day, so when
that stuff is engrained in your brain it is an
adjustment to try and fix it. You have to
retrain your brain.”
“It wasn’t a great night overall for us. A
lot of mistakes in rounds. It was just a
weird. There are only four teams in our
division, so everything runs really fast.
Your warm-up time is really limited and we
had a long walk from the gym to the warm-
up area, so you lost time in that aspect too.
It was just kind of a perfect storm.”
The Vikings will go back to work and get
things smoothed out for the postseason.
At Mason Saturday, Lakewood finished
the day with an overall score of 771.76 with
scores os 234.2 in round one, 224.06 in
round two and 313.5 in round three – out-
scoring Portland in all three rounds.
The Raiders, the only other D3 team
competing, had scores of 227.4 in round
one, 221.84 in round two and 311.3 in
round three. That gave the Portland girls an
overall total of 760.54.
The Lakewood girls even outscored the
host Bulldogs who won the five-team Divi-
sion 1/2 competition with an overall score
of 764.84.Saxon bowling teams each notch an I-8 win
The Hastings varsity boys’ and girls’
bowling teams each split a pair of Inter-
state-8 Athletic Conference duals int eh past
week.
The Hastings boys took a 21-9 win over
visiting Coldwater Tuesday afternoon, after
a 19-11 loss to Pennfield at M-66 bowl last
Friday.
TheHastings girls beat the green and gold
Panthers 19-11 last Friday in Battle Creek,
but fell 24.5 to 5.5 against Coldwater.
In the Saxon boys’ win Tuesday, Miles
Lipsey and Hunter Pennington both wontwo individual points in the regular games.
Lipsey did it with scores of 165 and 190.
Pennington did it with a 176 and a 170.
Kenny Vastine III rolled a 140 to win one
point and missed a second by just five pins
while rolling a 141.
The Saxon boys also got high games of
142 from JacksonByers, 133 from Degan
Wilkins, 122 from Cohen James and 111
from Austin Henman.
The Saxon boys got six of their points in
the Baker games winning the total pinfall
while taking one game with a 155.Last Friday, the Hastings girls got their
win over Pennfield with Kayli Schild
getting a point thanks to a 138, Heaven
Simmet winning one with a 188, Kass
Harton winning one with a 135 and Jen
Stoline taking two with games of 112 and
138.
The Hastings girls also got high games of
110 from MeganRamey and scores of 153
and 136 from Ally Herder in her two regular
games.
The Saxon girls book both Baker games
in that match with scores of 149 and 159.Ionia Bulldogs ten points better than
Hastings/Delton swim squad
The Ionia varsity boys’ swimming and
diving team pulled out an 84-74 win over the
Hastings/Delton Kellogg boys at the CERC
in Hastings Tuesday.
Junior DJ Kuck and senior Riley Shults
both won two individual races for the Hast-
ings/DK team. Shults took the 100-yard
backstroke in 1 minutes 12.91 seconds andthe 500-yard freestyle in 6:01.11.
Kuck won the 200-yard individual medley
in 2:32.33 and the 100-yard freestyle in 56.
seconds.
Hastings/DK teammates Colton Baker, a
sophomore, and freshman Caleb Kramer
went 1-2 in the diving competition. Baker put
up a winning score of 119.30 points.Shults and Kuck teamed with sophomore
Gavin Bagley and Kramer to win the day’s
first race, the 200-yard medley relay, with a
time of 2:06.60.
Carl Goeckel had two individual wins for
the Bulldogs. He took the 200-yard freestyle
in 1:56.81 and the 100-yard butterfly in
1:02.66.TKHS cheerleaders Ava Jahnke (right) and Kella LeClaire cheer with their team-
mates during round one of the OK Gold Conference Final at Thornapple Kellogg High
School in Middleville Thursday, Feb. 8. (Photo by Brett Bremer)