Page 8/The Sun and News, Saturday, March 2, 2024TK second at D2 regional, headed back to CMU
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
A step, a clap, a shout, a
blink, a twitch.
A moment that small is the
difference between a region-
al championship trophy
going home with the Cedar
Springs Red Hawks instead
of the Thornapple Kellogg
Trojans. TK head coach
Madelynn Lula and her girls
were even more specific. A
pointed toe or a hip check
proved the difference.
The OK Gold Conference
co-champions finished 1-2 at
the MHSAA Division 2
Competitive Cheer Regional
hosted by Kenowa Hills
High School Saturday with
the Cedar Springs girls 26
hundredths of a point better
than the Trojans on the score-
sheet in the end.
Both teams did earn the
chance to cheer again today,
March 2, at the MHSAA
Division 2 Competitive Cheer
Finals at Central Michigan
University‘s McGuirk Arena
in Mt. Pleasant along with the
Plainwell and Reeths-Puffer
teams that placed third and
fourth at the 12-team region-
al.
Cedar Springs won the
regional with a score of
759.78 points. TK finished at
759.52.
“I told them to shoot for
the stars and maybe you’ll
land on the moon, meaning
always gun for first place
and hopefully you’ll be
somewhere in the top four,”
TK head coach Madleynn
Lula said. “Ultimately the
goal was to go back to the
state finals.”
The TK ladies were seeded
fourth based on top scores
going into the regional, but
proved they were capable of
besting the Cedar Springs
girls during the OK Gold
Conference season and also
knew they were capable of
outscoring the Plainwell team
that beat them for a district
title the weekend previous.
The Red Hawks were half
a point ahead of TK after
round one and then outscored
TK by 2.26 points in round
two.
TK made up 2.5 points of
the difference in round three
with a score of 312.4, which
was the best of the day in the
round.
“They didn’t know wherethey stood during the entire
competition,” Lula said of
her girls. “They had no idea
that Plainwell had just fallen
and that Cedar was only
three points ahead of them.
All I kept telling them was
the door is wide open. Chase
your goals.”
The Trojans had tallies of
227 in round one and 220.
in round two. That was their
TK ladies’ first time surpass-
ing the 220-point mark in
round two.
“Round three was great,
but round two our goal has
been to break the 220 thresh-
old, and we hadn’t broken
the 218.5 threshold and we
broke the 220 threshold at
regionals and that was a giant
accomplishment,” Lula said.
“All season that was what
was holding our score back
at great instead of exception-
al. Breaking that 220 thresh-
old at regionals was excep-
tional.
“They finally spent the
entire last week, we call it
sticky feet, sticking your feet
to the ground after every sin-
gle skill and not moving and
standing up like, ‘heck yeah,
I just did that.’”The Trojans stuck their
jumps, toe touches and her-
kies, and their big gymnas-
tics skills - the back walk-
overs, back handsprings and
back tucks.
Plainwell, the team that
bested Thornapple Kellogg
for a district title the previ-
ous Friday in Richland,
placed third at Kenowa Hills
with an overall score of
755.32. The TK girls passed
those Trojans on the score-
board in round three. Reeths-
Puffer earned the fourth and
final state finals spot with a
score of 729.18.
Zeeland West was a little
ways back in fifth place with
a score of 722.14 ahead of
Northview 719.44, Mason
714.56, Forest Hills Northern
712.14, DeWitt 708.76, St.
Johns 706.90, Sturgis 704.
and Mattawan 688.0.
The Trojan team had its
best ever state finals finish a
year ago, placing fourth at
the Division 2 Finals. This
season’s D2 competition is
slated to begin at 4 p.m.B
U
T
C
H
E
R
B
LO
CK
SOCIAL^ BB
Q
&
T
A
P(^) H
O
U
S
E
(^99)
(^00)
(^) C
he
rry
(^) Va
lley Ave Caledo
nia
M
I^4
93
16
Visit our website for
menu options and more
info!
http://www.butcherblocksocial.com
Thornapple Kellogg teammates Claira Kovich
(front) and Kella LeClaire punch in unison during their
team’s round one performance at the MHSAA Division
2 Competitive Cheer Regional hosted by Kenowa
Hills High School Saturday. The Trojans finished as
the regional runners-up to qualify for today’s MHSAA
Division 2 Competitive Cheer Finals at Central
Michigan University. (Photo by Brett Bremer)
The Thornapple Kellogg fan section gets fired up for the start of the MHSAA
Division 2 Competitive Cheer Regional at Kenowa Hills High School Saturday
morning. (Photo by Brett Bremer)
Thornapple Kellogg’s Mali Holland and Kenady Smith shout out during round
one at the MHSAA Division 2 Competitive Cheer Regional at Kenowa Hills High
School Saturday. (Photo by Brett Bremer)
Mia Hilton and the Trojan cheerleaders perform a jump during round one at the
MHSAA Division 2 Competitive Cheer Regional hosted by Kenowa Hills High
School Saturday. (Photo by Brett Bremer)