The Shores competitive cheer team made school history and will be competing in the State finals at the Delta Plex on March 1.
“When I found out that we made it to state, I was so proud of my team.” junior Madi Bartkowiak said. “I knew that all the hard work we put into the season had paid off.”
However, making it to state finals was not easy. At districts on Feb. 15,which took place at Grand Rapids Christian, Shores placed second behind Kenowa Hills with a score of 740.84, sending the Sailors to regionals.
The girls do their routine for the judges
Behind Shores was Sparta, placing third, and Grand Rapids Christian, placing fourth, which also qualified these teams.
“We were confident going in to districts that we could move on,” coach Amanda Heethuis said. “We had our sights on that first-place trophy, but second place was still our highest ever district placement.”
Regionals took place at Thornapple-Kellogg on Feb. 22 when 14 teams competed to move onto the state finals. After the first round, Shores was in ninth place with 221.6 points.
“Round one has been our weakest round all season, so we are used to having to make a climb after round one,” Heethuis said. “We knew our second and third rounds were strong, so it would be close, but it was possible.”
Shores pulled through in the second round scoring 217.04, which put them in sixth place. But the third round is where Shores pulled through the competition sending them into fourth place. And onto state.
Along with Shores, Dewitt, Thornapple-Kellogg, and St. Joseph qualified to compete in the State Finals.
“The goal of making it to State has been our goal for a long time now,” Bartkowiak said. “The fact that my team is the first team in Shores history to make it to States is an incredible feeling.” – Alex Rakowski, staff writer
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